GOVT ASKED TO BUILD NEW RECONSTRUCTIVE, PLASTIC SURGERY & BURN CENTRES

Dr. O.W. Ampomah

The Medical Director of the Reconstructive, Plastic Surgery and Burn Centre (RPSBC) of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah, has hinted that the emergence of Ghana as a petroleum producing country was going to cause an increase in the numbers of victims of burn injuries in the face of inadequate and ill equipped health facilities to handle such conditions.

With the transportation of oil and petroleum products across the country, he said a consequence of this financial gift to Ghanaians would be the public’s exposure to risk, and this was likely to grow significantly.

Speaking at the Tamale Teaching Hospital where he led a team of 27 health professionals including consultant plastic surgeons, doctors, theatre and ward nurses, anesthetics and other paramedical staff on a free medical outreach programme, Dr. Ampomah said extensive burn injuries were very expensive to treat both at the individual, corporate and national levels.

According to him, between January 2011 and the first quarter of 2012, there had been over 850 recorded cases at the RPSBC in Korle-Bu alone, with 328 requiring admission and 90 deaths. “It is sad to note that 15 years after the establishment of a reconstructive plastic surgery and burn centre in Accra, none has been established yet to cater for patients in the northern sector who may require this service”, Dr. Ampomah wondered. 

He called on government to seriously consider establishing new plastic surgery centres in addition to existing ones and train more personnel to man them in order to meet the current growing challenge in the country.

Injuries from burns, he noted were the most devastating injuries that one could sustain and survive, stressing that, apart from being potentially life threatening, the prolonged physical and psychological morbidity from a severe burn was incomparable to any injury.

Dr. Ampomah mentioned that deficient facilities, poor referral system for burn patients, high cost of treatment, inadequate physiotherapy, poor psychological rehabilitation, and occupational therapy services worsen the outlook dramatically for an injured patient. 

Since its establishment in 1997, the RPSBC at Korle-Bu TTH routinely dealt with conditions such as burns, injuries to the face, limbs, nerves, tendons, blood vessels, skin cancers, contractures, lymphoedema, birth anomalies like cleft lip and palate, hand deformities, keloids, among others and comestic problems. 

Being the only Centre of its kind and status in the West Africa Sub-region, the RPSBC had been committed to reaching the highest level of excellence in the field of reconstructive plastic surgery, dutifully treating all patients (local and foreign) and restoring them to their normal state as possible.

The RPSBC provided services in surgical/outpatient consultancy, outreaches, training workshops and training of surgeons and allied health professionals locally and internationally.

The Medical Director of the RPSBC of Korle-Bu TTH disclosed that there was no standard burn centre in Ghana or the whole of West Africa Sub-region, adding, as a result, cases of burns that should had a good chance of survival end up succumbing. 

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Dr. Ken Sagoe, stated categorically that the hospital was ready to sponsor any houseman who would offer him/herself to specialize in plastic surgery and its related areas.

He also expressed his appreciation to the team of medical doctors from the RPSBC of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for coming to render such unquantifiable services to the people of the North for free.