Kidney Patients Left Stranded As Korle Bu Leaves Renal Unit Closed For Two Weeks

• Patients in dire need of dialysis treatment have been left stranded as the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has kept its renal unit closed for two weeks straight
• The hospital failed to inform patients who are reliant on the unit about its closure and when it intends to reopen
• The President of the Kidney Patients Association, Baaffour Ahenkorah, has described the inaction of the hospital as callous

Renal patients have been left stranded and in urgent need of treatment following the abrupt closure of the Korle Bu Dialysis Unit for almost two weeks.

Patients are forced to seek dialysis treatment from private hospitals, which tend to charge more for the procedure.

Those unable to afford private hospitals are in dire straits as further delays could spell potential doom.

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According to the President of the Kidney Patients Association, Baaffour Ahenkorah, the Unit’s closure has been attributed to a shortage of essential consumables needed for dialysis treatment.

He told JoyNews that the hospital has, however, failed to clearly communicate to the patients what is really going on and what has caused the delay in the Unit’s reopening.

He said some patients are struggling to afford the fees of private health centres, which charge between GH₵600 and GH₵1,000 per dialysis session.

Most renal patients require at least two sessions a week, making it very costly to raise the needed funds to access the service.

He said the reckless attitude of Korle Bu’s management towards patients has been demeaning and has urged the hospital to quickly relay clear and concise information to patients about the closure and possible reopening of the facility.

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“The fact that we have end-stage kidney failure doesn’t mean we should be neglected. Everyone will face death someday, but the least the hospital can do is to communicate with us,” he said.

Parliament condemns Renal Unit’s closure

Meanwhile, Parliament’s health committee has strongly condemned the closure of the Korle Bu Renal Unit.

CitiNewsroom reports that following the closure, three patients have lost their lives as a result of the inability to access affordable dialysis care.

Alexander Roosevelt, the member of parliament for Central Tongu, expressed shock and dismay at the facility’s closure.

He noted that the National Health Insurance Authority had recently required two million cedis to support renal patients under 18 and above 60 and even announced the release of an additional two million cedis to settle the bills of renal patients at Korle Bu.

According to Roosevelt, if indeed the NHIA had done what it had told parliament, then such an incident should have never happened in the first place.

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“So does this mean that what the National Health Insurance Authority told us was just fiction? Does it mean that they were not telling us the truth?” he said.

NHIA to make dialysis treatment free for six months

YEN.com.gh reported that the government of Ghana has included dialysis treatment on the National Health Insurance Scheme for six months.

The initiative fulfils a promise to include dialysis treatment on the NHIS to alleviate patients' financial burden.

The six-month period was expected to begin in June and end in December 2024.

Source: YEN.com.gh