Clients of District, Municipal, and Metropolitan Mutual Health Insurance Schemes have been advised not to regard the Identification Cards issued them by their respective schemes, as a trump card to demand preferential treatment from service prodders of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Instead, premium holders of the scheme should learn to co-operate with doctors, nurses and other health workers in both government hospitals, clinics, and all accredited private health facilities to ensure speedy and effective realizations of the goals of the NHIS.
Dr. Godfrey K. Morrison, Awutu-Effutu-Senya District Director of the Ghana Health Services (GHS), gave the advice when the Presiding Member of the Awutu Effutu Senya District Assembly, Mr. Alexander Afenyo-Markin, visited various departments of the Winneba Government Hospital to acquaint himself with the implementation of the new health policy there.
Dr. Morrison was reacting to some of the allegations levelled against service providers in the district by some premium holders of the scheme after he had conducted the Presiding Member and his entourage round.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin was accompanied by members of the District Assembly's Sub-Committee responsible for health development.
The visit also took the team to the District Offices of the Awutu Effutu Senya District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme, near South Campus of the University of Education Winneba.
Mr. Joseph Yaw Owusu-Kwarteng, the Public Relations Officer, on behalf of Scheme Manager and other line officers of the AESDMHIS, conducted the team round the various sections of the scheme.
He told the Presiding Member that notwithstanding numerous constraints facing the scheme, management of the scheme supported by past and current board members of the scheme, registered more than 108,000 out of the district's total population of about 190,000 of which 73,000 are ID card bearers, since it became fully operational 22 months ago, and hope to register more clients by the end of the year.
Mr. Owusu-Kwarten said registration and issuance of ID cards were still ongoing and advised people who have not registered to contact scheme collectors in various parts of the district for assistance.
Dr. Morrison said medical officers and other health workers in the area attached great value to the NHIS and were prepared to offer their best to ensure total attainments of the objectives of the policy, adding that what they need was the maximum co-operation of ID bearers of the scheme to ensure collective realization of the aspirations of the policy.
He reminded NHIS ID card bearers that the premium they were holding was not a tromp card with which they could seek special or preferential medical attention from service providers dealing with the NHIS.
Contributing to Dr. Morrison's comments, Dr. Hercules Odartey France, Medical Superintendent In-Charge of the Winneba Government Hospital, said although Doctors and nurses of the hospital were being overstretched daily by the increasing number of patients that visit the facility following the advent of NHIS, they have taken things cool and were working hard to ensure the success of the scheme.
He lamented that in spite of all these sacrifices, some people in the area were bent on soiling the hard won reputation of the hard working medical officers in the area by consistently leveling serious allegations against them.
Dr. France counseled people in the district who indulge in such destructive acts to stop and make meaningful contributions towards improving the environmental health needs of the various communities to reduce the spread of malaria and other preventable diseases in order to make the policy cost effective.
The Medical Superintendent, who is also a member of the AESDMHIS Board of Directors, appealed to the Government for more Medical Officers to enable the facility to cope with the workload of the few Doctors at the Hospital.
He attributed the achievements chalked up by the NHIS in the area to the excellent performance of workers of the AESDMHIS.
Interacting with management officials of the hospital later, Mr. Markin praised Doctors, Nurses, and other workers of the hospital for their good work and asked them to maintain the spirit to enable the nation realize the dreams of the NHIS.
He assured them of the District Assembly's support and co-operation to ensure systematic and effective running of the facility. Mr. Markin urged workers of the AESDMHIS to intensify public education on the scheme in spite of their appreciable achievements in the past two years to cover more people in the district.
Mr. Markin further assured the authorities of the hospital that he would make sure that the District Assembly pays the seven million cedis medical bills of six nursing mothers who had been detained at the hospital for weeks for failing to service their respective bills, ranging from 600,000 cedis to 2,000,000.
He also promised to assist them connect pipeline to the 1,500 gallons capacity poly tank water reservoir to provide regular water to the children's ward, complete constructional works on the 'mothers hotel' which had been abandoned near the children's ward as well as the reconditioning of the broken down laundry machines at the hospital.
The Presiding Member ended his working visit with an inspection of the abandoned teaching hospital project at the Winneba Community Health Nursing Training School.
Source: GNA
