As part of the Ministry of Health’s bid to reduce Maternal mortality rates in the country, a Regional Call Centre has been set-up to manage patient referrals and coordinate expert advice among medical institutions.
In an interview with Citi News, the Greater Accra Regional Director for Health Service, Dr. Linda Van Otoo, said the initiative formed a part of the sector’s initiative to save lives.
According to her, the sector recorded about “two hundred and one in absolute numbers” maternal deaths for the year 2013.
“That was very unfortunate. So we are looking at all that we can do to ensure that the mothers survive and the babies also survive,” she said. According to her, the call centre would help the various health institutions coordinate with each other and also “receive expert advice for the management of women and new born babies especially.”
The call centre number which should only be accessible by health personnels would link the various hospitals within the Greater Accra Region together so they can complement each other’s effort to provide quality health care to pregnant women.
Speaking at a stakeholders meeting attended by health personnels from the various hospitals in Accra, Dr. Linda Van Otoo added that call centre would help patients and helthcare providers locate empty beds in the various hospitals to prevent pregnant women from been turned away in hospital over lack of beds.
The new initiative is being tested in the Greater Accra Region before a nationwide rollout. The new call centre facility is located in Ridge hospital OPD, Adabraka.
–
By: Kumi Obed Afari/citifmonline.com/Ghana