Dr Yaw Ofori Yeboah, the Western Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, says the region has recorded some good improvement in health care indicators in the first half of the year.

For instance, the Neonatal mortality rate dropped from 7.3 per 1000 live births in 2020 to 5.4 per 1000 live births in the half-year of 2021.

He explained that the region increased the institutional maternal mortality ratio from 111 per 100,000 live births in 2020 to 122 per 100,000 live births in 2021 during the respective half year.

He, however, said between January and June this year, the Region lost 35 women through pregnancy and delivery as against 29 during the same period last year.

Dr Yeboah said this during the annual half-year performance review meeting of the Ghana Health Service, Western Region in Takoradi.

The Performance review enables facilities to meet and learn from each other, revive tested strategies and introduce new initiatives to overcome challenges.

He said the Region had constituted an expert review committee on maternal mortality audits under the chairmanship of Dr Agyemang, an obstetrician Gynaecologist at the Effia Nkwanta Regional hospital, adding that work had already begun on reviewing the maternal mortality audits supports received from various facilities.

On COVID-19, Dr Yeboah said the Region had to date recorded 6,638 cases, out of which 712 are health workers with two succumbing to the disease.

He stressed the need for health workers to first protect themselves and that all management teams must take steps to ensure full compliance with the COVID-19 protocols in their working environments.

Dr Yeboah said a survey conducted on the use of face masks by the Regional Health Directorate in the Regional Capitals revealed that 55 per cent of those observed were not wearing nose masks, while 29 per cent were improperly wearing their nose masks, hence the need to sustain education and awareness on the wearing of nose masks.

The Regional Health Director cautioned that with the confirmation of the Ebola outbreak in some West African countries, there was the need to prepare adequately and also enhance surveillance in communities and facilities throughout the Region, adding that Districts with borders and landing beaches must take extra steps to strengthen surveillance.

Madam Anna Ekuwa Essandoh, Regional Deputy Director of Nursing Services, indicated that as part of efforts to improve upon health care delivery in the region, the Regional Director and management team initiated the concept of "Client Service Executive" to enhance client satisfaction and smooth operations at hospitals in the Region.

She said the objectives of the client service executive was to enhance the corporate image of the service and also improve upon client experience when accessing health care services at the hospitals.

Madam Essandoh explained that the expected outcome would be to reduce waiting time, easy access to care for clients and patients, improve customer satisfaction, increase IGF, improve quality health care as well as improve patients engagement with staff at the hospitals.

The Regional Minister, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, said there was the need to support the Client Service Executive Concept in the various health facilities across the Region.

"Your clients need to enjoy proper care and they should not be looked down upon and shouldn't be classified as small or nobody...some may just need kind words or motivation," he added.

He announced that the Western Region was going to get six hospitals from the government under Agenda 111 to improve quality health care in the Region.

The Effia NKwanta hospital would be upgraded into a teaching hospital while other facilities may be converted into polyclinics, he added.