The Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has criticised Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s vision to digitalise the healthcare system in Ghana.
According to him, digitalisation can be beneficial but the focus should be on the current state of Ghana’s healthcare system, which is plagued by poor service conditions and a lack of resources.
Speaking in an interview with JoyNews on February 8, 2024, Mr Gbande stated that the government should focus on addressing the lack of beds and poor service conditions that have been reported in major hospitals.
He cited the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital where he said patients are often left without beds or unable to pay for treatment.
The NDC deputy scribe claimed that the government’s failure to provide adequate medical care is resulting in the death of Ghanaians.
“He talked about National Health Insurance. Today, if you go to the National Health Insurance office, it is a collapsed office because if you are holding a National Health Insurance card, you can go to the hospital but you will not get healthcare. You will simply have to go and borrow money and take care of yourself because government is owing service providers and is unable to pay,” Mr. Gbande emphasized.
Mr. Gbande’s comments come in response to statements made by Dr. Bawumia during his address at the UPSA auditorium on Wednesday, February 7 where he outlined his vision for digitalising the healthcare system.
The Vice President emphasised that a patient does not need to carry his/her medical folder to a different hospital in case of a referral.
With this system, he explained that all the patient’s medical records would be accessible by the doctor in any hospital as soon as they arrived, enabling them to view the patient’s complete medical history and information.
But Mr Gbande said that Ghanaians are concerned about the efficiency and effectiveness of the National Health Insurance Scheme.
He stressed that while the digitalisation of the healthcare system is important, it should not be prioritised over the government’s primary responsibility of improving the lives of Ghanaians.
“As we speak today, if you ask the ordinary Ghanaian on the street what is your living conditions – people cannot pay rent, companies are collapsing because of corruption, high taxes and bureaucracy in the system,” he stressed.
