Chief Executive Officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital Dr. Adamu Atiku has been relieved of his position, Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has confirmed.
Dr. Atiku’s removal comes on the back of the Health Minister’s visit to the hospital during which the minister expressed dissatisfaction with the management of the facility.
The minister had visited the hospital unannounced to assess activities there following reports of negligence that led to the death of a patient.
The management of the tertiary health facility dismissed the reports of negligence but the minister said he found, during his visit, a disturbing trend of lack of maintenance culture that has led to the break down of equipment and also, left the facility in an insanitary condition.
He believes the situation threatens the safety of patients and health service delivery at the hospital.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM in Accra, the minister expressed dissatisfaction with the management of the facility and indicated that he has taken the decision to remove the CEO.
“There were a lot of things I was not happy about especially when equipment bought by government has been run for sometime and it has been left unattended to, it has developed fault, they couldn’t maintain, they couldn’t replace yet they are expecting government to bring money to come and maintain or replace. I wasn’t happy with that development at all,” he stated.
“As I speak to you now, we have thanked him for his services he has delivered at the Tamale Teaching Hospital and we think that somebody else must come and continue as CEO of the facility. So he has been sacked with immediate effect and it has been communicated to him in a letter.”
He has also set up a committee to probe the circumstances surrounding the death of the patient.
