"Effective contract management ensures performance of the parties meet desired standard, which in effect is the surest way to avoid breaches and subsequent litigations," he said. 

Dr Danso who was speaking at the 43rd Annual General Conference of the Association of Health Services Administrator of Ghana (AHSAG) in Ho, on the theme: "Effective contract management in the public sector, the role of the Health Service Administrator," also charged contract administrators to ensure daily monitoring of projects to avoid delays, over payment or under payment, which undermined effectiveness of contract processes.

He said it was imperative for contract administrators to also ensure that contracts were "worded or amended" to reflect agreed changes in circumstances, and that any claim or dispute also resolved amicably according to the terms of the contract.

Dr Danso said contract administrators must ensure that projects were effectively closed after supervision, inspections and acceptance of deliverables by buyers and urgent attention also given to payment of retention, claims on guarantee, and retention of securities to avoid surprises that might sprung up after both parties had assumed closure due to long silence.

He said contract management would not become "an orphan" in the health sector if administrators remained passionate of their jobs and covered their scope of responsibility comprehensively and meticulously.

Dr Danso also asked the Health Service Administrator to have proper database of contracts because it was the only surest way to enable them speak effectively to status of contracts at any point in time.

"Important and key to successful contract management which must engage the attention of Health Service Administrators is a proper database of all contracts, from small to large for proper and effective tracking," he stated.

Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minister, in a speech read on his behalf described the theme for the conference as "unique and appropriate in contemporary public sector management, considering the emerging issues affecting the sector."

He said one grey area, central to effective service in the sector was procurement and contract management, adding that lapses in that area had dire consequences on financial and material resources particularly in the health sector.

The Regional Minister said contract and procurement breaches in the public sector had taken different shades and colours and were easily committed either deliberately or unknowingly, however whatever way it occurred "the consequences are grave and far-reaching."

Dr Letsa said the nation's quest to curtail the infractions from the public sector required in-depth knowledge by sector managers in contract management which hinged on integrity and paying serious attention to details of contracts.

He said the training acquired by the Health Service Administrators placed them at a unique position to ensure effective execution of contracts in health facilities, regular availability of needed resources for healthcare delivery, and that their presence at the facilities should bring order and sanity.