Some residents of Ejisu, in Ashanti, have appealed to the Ghana Health Service to consider banning the use of mobile phones by nurses during working hours.
According to them, this will cause nurses to pay close attention while on duty and will also help save the lives of patients who require critical care and attention, particularly during emergencies.
The residents appealed during the annual health performance review meeting organized by the Municipal Directorate of the Service at Ejisu.
They cited several instances of nurses on duty playing games on their phones while patients who needed critical attention were left unattended. The attitude, the residents claimed, had led to the loss of many lives in the area and prevented many people from accessing healthcare in government hospitals.
Responding to the accusations and the appeal by the residents, the Municipal Director of Health Services, Mrs. Josephine Ahorsu, condemned the behaviour of those nurses and said it was unethical for a nurse to use a mobile phone while attending to a patient.
She assured the residents that the health directorate would work on their request to instil discipline among health workers in the area. Mrs. Ahorsu urged all health personnel in the municipality to take the accusations by the residents seriously and work as professionals, who understood the ethics of their work to regain the confidence of the people they served.
The purpose of the annual review meeting, she said, was to offer stakeholders the opportunity to evaluate the activities of health facilities and personnel in the municipality to help develop strategies to improve services to the public.
