The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) dialysisis centre is set to begin full operations next week.
This follows the assurance of a significant quantity of essential consumables currently being processed for delivery from the Tema Port.
In a statement, the management of the Hospital said the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Ghana Supply Company are providing support to expedite the clearance on an emergency basis to ensure that the hospital continues to deliver top-notch care to patients.
This follows the closure of the renal unit of the hospital almost two weeks ago without any official explanation.
The President of the Kidney Patients Association, Baffour Ahenkorah, confirmed that three patients had died due to the closure of the unit.
The Health Committee of Parliament has strongly condemned the sudden closure of the Renal Unit at the KBTH.
But management of KBTH in the statement noted that “we anticipate that the outpatient section of our Dialysis Centre will return to full operations early next week. While we had initially hoped to have these supplies cleared from the port two weeks ago, procedural lapses and documentation on the part of the shipping line, unfortunately, caused a delay in the clearance.”
“During this period, we temporarily shifted dialysis operations and had some of the patients dialysed at the National Cardiothoracic Centre of the Korle in Teaching Hospital to minimise disruption and [not] inconvenience patients. We are working diligently to resolve the clearance process over the weekend, and we are optimistic that normal services will resumé promptly,” it stated.
The KBTH management apologised to patients and clients for the inconvenience caused and thanked them for their restraint and understanding.
“To prevent future shortages, and improve our service delivery and cost efficiency, the Minister of Health, Hon Dr Bernard Okoe Roye, has procured 30 additional dialyses machines with a year’s supply of consumables, for Korle Bu.
“The specifications of the new machines will allow us to access their essential consumables from the open market at competitive prices,” it added.