Primary Care Provider Network (PCPN) initiative has been launched in the Hohoe Municipality to enhance quality healthcare service delivery.

The PCPN is aimed at enhancing access to equitable and high-quality primary healthcare services.

Dr Pius Mensah, Hohoe Municipal Director of Health Services, said the PCPN would enable all key stakeholders involved in the programme, understand the issues entailed as well as ensure the sustainability and continuity of the programme.

He said the initiative would also bring stakeholders together to achieve a comprehensive health care delivery in the Municipality.

"A key component of this programme is that we want to form a good network between all facilities in the Municipality between the Community-based Health Planning and Service (CHPS) compounds, health centres and hospitals to ensure that we have quality of care so that no patient is lost in the system."

Dr Mensah said health facilities would come together under the initiative to form a synergy to be able to achieve comprehensive health care delivery.

Mr Robert Adatsi, Volta Regional Deputy Director, Clinical Care, said although a number of interventions had been put in place previously to enhance access to healthcare, there were resource limitations ranging from money, equipment and human resource.

"So, it is almost only possible within the constraints that we work to achieve the kind of access and coverage that we want," he added.

Mr Adatsi noted that the PCPN had been tried and tested in the Region and had proven to address most of the issues related to access and coverage.

He said there must be the need for strengthening health facilities such as CHPS compounds and health centres to have the right use of staff and equipment to ensure service availability, accessibility and continuity.

"If we are able to bring a health centre, CHPS compound and a private or public clinic in a defined area into a network, they will maximise all available resources to provide the right use of care and also remove some challenges that affect clients," he said.

Dr Alphonse Makafui Dzakpasu, Medical Superintendent of the Peki Government Hospital who facilitated a presentation on overview of PCPN, said the initiative was needed due to the wide variability in the capacity of health facilities to deliver the package of services defined for primary health care.

He said the Network was an innovative approach to catalyse sub-district level providers to partner together, deliver a more comprehensive package of essential services and also maximise efficiency in the use of resources.

Dr Dzakpasu noted that four districts; South Dayi, South Tongu, Ho-West and Adaklu were currently implementing provider networks.

It was observed during a pilot project of the Network that it enhanced relationships, facilitated sharing of resources and logistics within networks and increased funding available to the networks.

The Medical Superintendent called on stakeholders including District Hospital and Health Administration, District Assembly, District National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) office and community members to actively play their roles in supporting the initiative.