The Renal Dialysis Center at the Bolgatanga Hospital in the Upper East Region is facing numerous challenges that are jeopardizing its ability to provide optimal patient care, according to the head of the unit, Dr. Adam Yousif.
Speaking after the regional branch of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) donated some equipment to the renal unit, Dr. Adam Yousif emphasized that inadequate staffing is the primary barrier hindering their operations.
“We don’t have enough staff strength to be able to do a certain number of cases. So, the staff strength is the main issue,” he stated.
He also revealed that all machines at the facility are functioning as expected, although there are breakdowns from time to time.
“Every now and then, every machine will develop a fault. Those we encounter once in a while. But there’s no machine that is sitting there, non-functional, at the moment,” he explained.
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While the center has recently received a boost from a donation of equipment from the regional branch of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), the lack of sufficient personnel remains a pressing concern.
Dr. Yousif noted, “It’s important that we try and get more nurses to the unit so that we can run smoothly. We have other aspects of the dialysis care, which have to do with nutrition, psychological support, and all that. These are all areas that I think we need to build capacity towards so nurses can probably specialize in those areas and deliver those services to us because, holistically, that’s how we should approach the patients.”
The Ghana Medical Association (GMA)’s donation was meant to help enhance the capabilities of the Renal Dialysis Center of the Bolgatanga Hospital. The items donated to the center included six parameter monitors, digital BP apparatus, patient screens, and pulse oximeters.
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Dr. Zakaria Adam, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the GMA, emphasized the association’s role in supporting local healthcare efforts.
“As an association and key stakeholder in the healthcare sector in this country, we thought that we should be able to support the agenda in making sure that this dialysis unit is sustainable and functional in order to bring quality care to patients,” he said.
Dr. Adam elaborated on the GMA’s approach to addressing the situation.
“We had interactions with the unit to try and identify some of the challenges and see how much we could also support. So that’s how we ended up with what we donated,” he noted.
The Renal Dialysis Center at the Bolgatanga Hospital commenced operations in September 2024 and currently has 29 patients and 13 dialysis machines.
Its operationalization comes as a huge relief to many residents of the region, who were previously compelled to travel to the Tamale Teaching Hospital in the Northern Region to have access to dialysis services.
