GHS calls for stronger systems to ensure safe care for NCD patients

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has called for stronger health systems, effective patient navigation and improved primary healthcare services to ensure safe and continuous care for persons living with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The Deputy Director-General of the GHS, Dr Caroline Amissah Reindorf, said patient safety must go beyond a single hospital visit and cover the entire continuum of care, particularly for people living with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer. She made the call at the commemoration of the 2026 National Patient Safety Day, organised by the GHS in Accra, on the theme: “ Safe Care for Noncommunicable Diseases . ” Dr Reindorf said people living with NCDs often require care for many years, making proper medication, regular check-ups, follow-up and effective referral systems critical to their safety.

She described patient navigation as a potential “game-changer” under the Government’s free primary healthcare initiative, saying it could help patients navigate health facilities and access appropriate services without unnecessary delays. “Sometimes, who to even ask where to proceed from. It’s not that you were not told. You’ve been told. You are educated. You can read and write. But when you are in that stressful situation, when you have entered a place that you are not familiar with, what would be best than to have someone smiling and ready to support you,” she said. She said gaps in referral systems could result in patients repeating their medical histories several times, while some referred patients failed to report at receiving facilities. Dr Reindorf urged health facilities to examine whether their systems adequately supported patients throughout the referral process and provided feedback on whether patients had…