The management of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has refuted claims that critical surgeries were cancelled on Monday, April 29, due to the ongoing power outages affecting the facility.
Reports circulated in the media on Monday suggested that patients in need of critical medical procedures were sent back to their wards due to the power outages, commonly referred to as ‘dumsor.’
However, the hospital’s management released a statement stating that such reports were misleading.
They clarified that Monday’s incident was actually caused by a low current situation at the facility, which lasted approximately 45 minutes.
The statement clarified that “two cases at the Department of Surgery were returned to the ward at the end of the day on account of limited space in the recovery ward and not because of power outage. The rest of the other theatres spread across the hospital all carried out their surgeries as scheduled.”
The hospital also urged the public to be cautious in sharing unverified stories, as they can undermine public confidence and cause unnecessary fear and discomfort among patients.
“We wish to appeal to the media to exercise great circumspection in publishing stories that are not fully verified because they undermine public confidence and create unnecessary fear and discomfort among our patients,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, Health Minister-designate Bernard Okoe-Boye has advised health facilities to utilize alternative power sources, particularly generator sets, in response to the recent erratic power supply.
He emphasized that hospitals are integral parts of the country and are thus affected by any challenges the nation faces.
“Because someone did a video of one minute, and 40 seconds and said lights have gone out, everybody goes emotional. The truth is that, if the country experiences some issues with power availability, hospitals are not outside the country, they will also experience some.”
“Another truth is that most of our hospitals have standby power plants, but just like management of a house, you can go to a house, they have a generator but maybe the generator has an issue.”
Speaking at a press briefing during his visit to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, he added “The one to put in petrol has an issue. Let’s stick to the essentials. Let’s ask a hospital, how is your generator? Is it working? If it’s not working, have you approached the ministry? If it’s working, who was in charge? Why didn’t you make it work? I don’t want to go into the details. We should not get sensational. Let’s stick to the essentials.
“If we want to discuss power supply in hospitals and standby generators, let’s discuss it. That is the way to make progress. You can do an audit, in Accra, there are 40 government hospitals, out of the 40, about thirty have power plants. Ten don’t have. Doctor, what are you doing about it? That is the way to make progress,” the minister-designate said.