The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has called on government to adequately resource teaching hospitals with the medical equipment required to deliver effective healthcare.
The call follows a public hearing on the Auditor-General’s performance audit, which examined systems for planning, procuring, and maintaining medical equipment between 2019 and 2023.
The audit covered Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Tamale Teaching Hospital, and other facilities nationwide.
Presenting the committee’s report on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, Madam Abena Osei Asare, Chairperson of PAC, lamented the absence of critical medical facilities, including a cardiac catheterisation laboratory at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
She said the lack of such a facility had contributed to the loss of lives of patients requiring urgent cardiac intervention, who often had to be transferred to Accra for treatment.
Madam Asare explained that while hospitals generally conducted assessments of medical equipment and incorporated them into procurement plans, the deeper challenges were inadequate funding, insufficient equipment, maintenance failures, weak technical capacity, and prolonged equipment downtime.
The committee recommended that the Ministry of Health prioritise the procurement of specialised facilities and equipment for teaching hospitals, and engage the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund to secure the necessary funding.
She further noted that the audit revealed biomedical engineers at teaching hospitals lacked specialised training to repair and maintain sophisticated medical equipment.
In some cases,she said, engineers had to outsource repairs that could have been undertaken internally if workshops were available.
Madam Asare called for a coordinated national retooling programme for teaching hospitals.
Madam Asare said: “A non-functional medical machine is not merely an idle public asset. It may mean a delayed diagnosis, a lost source of hospital revenue, or a loss of life.”
Teaching hospitals in Ghana serve as referral centres and training grounds for medical professionals. However, persistent challenges with equipment procurement, maintenance, and funding have undermined their capacity to deliver quality healthcare.
The PAC’s recommendations highlight the urgent need for investment in specialised facilities, technical training, and sustainable financing to strengthen Ghana’s health infrastructure.