Korle-Bu Management summoned by Health Ministry over new dialysis fee
The Ministry of Health has called for a meeting with the management of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital regarding a recent fee that kidney patients visiting the Renal Unit are being charged for dialysis sessions.
Criticism has mounted against the hospital in response to reports of revised dialysis fees.
Head of Public Relations at the Ministry of Health, Isaac Ofie, has stated that the hospital’s management will be summoned to the ministry to provide an explanation for the introduction of the new fee without obtaining prior approval from the Ministry or Parliament.
“Before you increase [fees], there is a need for proper procedure or caution to be taken, extending the proposal or the proposed price to Parliament for approval thus the fees before you charge,” Ofie said. “But this has not gotten to us yet and even if it has gotten to the ministry, it should be before Parliament and Parliament will have to approve that before it is charged.”
“It is in line with this that the ministry has summoned [the hospital’s management] for an urgent meeting and then quickly they have to withdraw the urgent price that they have put out there,” he added.
In the meantime, Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah, the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, has informed Citi News that only six individuals have been impacted by the recent fee adjustments, and steps will be taken to address the situation.
“Fortunately, this was noticed very quickly and so when we checked, it was only six people who had paid this amount but it is going to be offset because these are patients that are on chronic dialysis so it is going to be offset,” Ampomah said. “It has already been internally remedied and we are also looking at what went wrong and how to avoid it next time.”
In a statement on Wednesday, September 27, management of the hospital explained that it is yet to submit the proposed rate to Parliament for approval.
“Any proposed fee will be forwarded to Parliament through the Ministry of Health for approval. It is only after the due parliamentary approval that any revised fees will be implemented,” a part of the statement read.
Meanwhile, the management of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital says it will continue to collaborate with stakeholders and philanthropists to help subsidize dialysis reagents and services for the treatment of many patients.
theindependentghana.com
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