Mr Benjamin Nyakutsey, Head of Policy Analysis Unit at the Ministry of Health, said the policy, when finalised, would set national goals to improve the quality of health care in the country. It would also set standards and regulations to measure the quality of health care and its impacts on public health.

The groups included the Sickle Cell Association of Ghana (SCAG), Mental Health Association of Ghana (MHAG) and the National Diabetes Association (NDA). M Nyakutsey explained that the strategy would focus on the ideal state of quality health care system and the current state, the need to make health care more accessible, safe and patient-centered as well as address environmental, social and behavioral influences on health care delivery.

It will also set priorities that must be addressed to meet these aims, and proposes ways to identify areas for improvement and measure progress. To him, improving health and health care quality would occur only if all sectors, individuals, family members, payers, providers, employers, and communities, are involved in decision making.

Whilst SCAG is calling on government to have a specialised ward for the treatment of sickle cell patient, intensify awareness creation on diseases and expand the treatment on the insurance scheme, MHAG and the NDA are concerned about the failure by health professionals to adhere to professional code of ethics and poor relationship with patient.

Mr Benjamin said the concerns raised by the groups would be factored into the strategy before it was launched by the end of November. “Government will establish a quality steering committee to ensure that the policy is implemented in an efficient and effective manner,” he added.

This he said was critical because the “Ministry is repositioning itself to ensure that the concerns patient is respected in the provision of quality health care”. Dr Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, Executive Director of Institute for Health Care Improvement , Africa Region, said the country did not have a unified quality strategy to streamline the health system and that the policy would integrate all the pieces of policies under the Ministry’s agencies.

Dr Sodzi-Tettey, who is also the lead Consultant, said the Ministry would on November 18, meet regional health directors across the country as well as key stakeholders to discuss extensively the policy before its launch.