[ 2015-01-26 ]

Ambulance Service must issue receipts for service
Some health workers in the Tema Metropolis have
appealed to the Ghana Ambulance Service to issue
receipts of payment to patients who pay for their
services.

According to the health workers, even though the
services of the Ghana Ambulance Service were
supposed to be free, sometimes patients were asked
to pay without being issued any receipts.

They made the appeal during the 2014 annual review
meeting of the Tema Metropolitan Health
Directorate held at the Tema General Hospital to
review activities and statistics of the various
public health institutions and sub-metros in the
Tema Metropolis.

They indicated that patients were sometimes
charged as much as 80 ghana cedis to be conveyed
to Tema General Hospital from other hospitals
within the Metropolis.

Miss Juliana Boateng, Senior Emergency Medical
Technician at the National Ambulance Service,
confirmed that it was true that their services
were free but they did charge when they run out of
fuel in conveying the patient to the referral
point.

Miss Boateng said even though no receipts were
issued for such payments, her outfit accounts for
every money received.

She disagreed with the said amount quoted as being
charged, saying they do not charge that much but
“something small” to enable them fuel the
ambulance.

On the issue of referrals, she pleaded with health
officials to inform the referral hospitals before
calling the Ambulance Service to convey the
patient.

She lamented that in cases where the referral
hospitals were not informed before patients were
conveyed there, officials refuse to admit the
patient leading to the Ambulance personnel moving
from hospital to hospital looking for a place for
the patient.

Miss Boateng stated that when they fail to get a
place, personnel returns patients to the health
institution they picked them from as the ambulance
is meant for temporal health care.

Dr John Yabani, Tema Metropolitan Health Director,
called on the National Ambulance Serrvice to
liaise with his outfit to educate health personnel
on their activities and how the two institutions
could help each other achieve its aim.

Dr Yabani appealed to the Ambulance Service to
consider coordinating and organizing private
ambulance operators to convey patients when their
vehicle was out of commission.

Source - GNA

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