President John Dramani Mahama has stated that although he is unaware about a recent threat by staff of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital to strike following the numerous challenges facing the facility, he is committed to resolve the issues to improve mental health delivery.
The Hospital has in recent times been battling with a number of challenges that compelled it to among other things close its Out Patient Department (OPD) few weeks ago.
The situation forced suppliers of the facility to withdraw their services over the unpaid debts, while aggrieved suppliers dragged the mental facility to court to demand payment.
The hospital’s situation has deteriorated to the point where the facility did not have basic items such as A-4 sheets, gloves and disinfectants readily available.
The nurses at the hospital have thus declared a strike over what they call unsafe working environment.
But in an interview with the Sunrise FM in Koforidua on Tuesday, President Mahama explained that the current threat by the staff has not come to his attention.
He was however quick to express his commitment to rectify the problem.
“It hasn’t come to my attention but I do know that the area of mental health is one of the areas where we need to focus our attention. Our Psychiatrists tell us that all of us have a bit of madness in us and that somehow we all have some mental disorder or the other so it means that it is something that we need to pay attention to.
“We passed the new mental health bill and government is committed to its implementation. We will take immediate steps to resolve the issue at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital and I am going to call the Minister of Health after this programme to see what the issues and how we will resolve them.”
The NDC in its 2016 manifesto, has promised to build two more psychiatric hospitals in the country, despite the challenges existing ones are going through.
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