20/07/2026
PR UNIT – MONDAY, 20TH JULY 2026 REGIONAL HEALTH DIRECTORATE
HIGH-LEVEL WHO AND GHANA HEALTH SERVICE MONITORING VISIT TO THE WESTERN REGION
The Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Caroline Reindorf Amissah led a high-level monitoring team with the World Health Organization (WHO), technical and development partners on a two-day visit to the Region Wednesday,15th and Thursday, 16th July 2026.
Accompanied by the Ag. Regional Director Dr. David Kofi Owusu, Ag. DDPH, Mr. Nicholas Adumako and other management members, they undertook a monitoring and supportive supervision visit to the STM (Kojokrom CHPS) and Mpohor (Adum Banso Health Centre) districts to assess the performance of key health service delivery programmes.
The visit followed concerns identified through routine national data reviews, which highlighted performance gaps in some of the Region's health indicators. As part of the exercise, the team employed nationally approved key performance indicators and selected proxy indicators to objectively evaluate service delivery and identify areas requiring improvement.
The assessment focused on the Region's Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), maternal and child health services, cold chain management, child nutrition, supply chain systems, healthcare waste management, human resources, and data quality and management.
The monitoring exercise provided an opportunity for direct engagement with regional and district health managers and frontline health workers to better understand existing challenges, recognize best practices, and jointly develop practical strategies to improve service delivery and health outcomes across the Region.
The monitoring mission concluded with a courtesy call on the Western Regional Minister to brief the Regional Coordinating Council on the key findings and recommendations from the visit. On behalf of the Minister, the delegation was received by the Regional Coordinating Director, Mrs. Rachel Fosua Sarpong, together with the Municipal Chief Executive for the Effia Kwesimintsm Municipal Assembly (EKMA), Hon. Abdul Majeed Dokurgu, the Metropolitan Coordinating Director Mr. Yakubu Mohammed Alhassan representing the Chief Executive for the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA), as well as other senior officials.
During the debriefing, the team commended the dedication and resilience of health workers across the Region despite the limited human resource capacity. They highlighted several challenges requiring multi-sectoral support, including inadequate staff accommodation, unreliable electricity and water supply affecting infection prevention, environmental sanitation, and vaccine cold chain management, as well as safety and security concerns for health workers serving in hard-to-reach communities.
The team appealed to the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to strengthen collaboration with the Ghana Health Service by supporting the provision of staff accommodation, improving access to essential utilities, and enhancing the safety and security of frontline health workers. They emphasized that addressing these challenges would significantly improve service delivery and contribute to better health outcomes for the people of the Western Region.
In her closing remarks, the Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Caroline Reindorf Amissah, underscored the importance of routine supportive supervision and encouraged managers at all levels to regularly visit health facilities to observe service delivery, mentor staff, and provide the necessary guidance and support.
Dr. Amissah noted that while the monitoring mission had been planned, it nevertheless provided valuable insights into the Region's health service delivery. She stressed that effective supervision goes beyond reviewing reports and requires managers to witness firsthand the realities at the facility level.
"People do what you inspect, not what you expect." She therefore disclosed her intention to undertake unannounced monitoring visits in the future, explaining that although the Region may be informed of her visit, the specific facilities to be visited would not be disclosed in advance.
" I have promised that I may come on an unannounced visit, the Region will know but I won't tell them where I'm visiting so they can't prepare the staff there...... we want to see the ordinary things, the normal things, the day to days," she said.
She reaffirmed the Ghana Health Service's commitment to continuous quality improvement through regular monitoring, supportive supervision, and collaboration with health workers and stakeholders to strengthen healthcare delivery across the country.
