The Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anaesthetists (GACRA) has appealed to the Ministry of Health (MoH) to appoint substantive heads for the various Anaesthesia Training Schools in the country.
Addressing a press conference in Accra last Wednesday, the President of GARCA, Mr James Nwinsagra, said the ministry should consider appointing competent anesthetists who are members of the association to head the schools adding that the lack of substantive heads was affecting their operations.
The press conference was to brief the media on the outcome of the association’s 3rdAnnual Congress and Scientific Session which was held in Kumasi from December 1 to 4, 2021.
Mr Nwinsagra appealed to the MoH to establish a College for Certified Registered Anaesthetists to help them specialise and enhance their career.
He urged the various tertiary educational institutions to introduce Masters and PhD. Degrees for anaesthesia practitioners to climb high the academic ladder.
The President also said the MoH and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission should look into the conditions of service and scale of CRAS to help boost their morale to work hard.
Mr Nwinsagra emphasised the need for an agency to regulate the practice of clinical anesthesia in the country since according to him, the Medical and Dental Council (MDC) in charge of doing so was not doing that.
Mr Nwinsagra alleged that the MDC was amending the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act, 2013 (Act 857) in order to change provisions in the Act to favour about only 50 Physician Anaesthetists concentrated in Accra and Kumasi.
The President of GACRA called for the CRAS to be included in the National and Regional Audit Committees to enable them make the necessary inputs for equipping theatres with the necessary equipment and key essentials.
“We are willing and ready to professionally collaborate with the medical practitioners at any point in time for the safety of the patient and to enhance clinical practice, but we will not accept any attempt to impose a Physician Anesthetist on us as a supervisor,” he added.
Mr Nwinsagra entreated the entire citizenry to take the COVID-19 vaccination and adhere to the existing protocols.
“The MoH and the GHSshould continue with the existing measures aimed at curtailing the outbreak and spread of Yellow Fever within the affected regions which will go a long way to help achieve Ghana’s target indicators for Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.
BY CECILIA LAGBA
