EQUIPPING THEATRE RECOVERY WARD AT BOLE HOSPITAL IN GHANA

Bole Hospital

Bole Hospital is in the Savanna Region of Ghana. The Bole District covers an area of about 4800 km² which is 6.8% of the total landmark of the northern region. It has a population of about 87,656 and a growth rate is about 3.1% per annum. The population is sparse with a density of about 14 per a km².

Operation Hernia Missions to Bole Hospital

Since 2008, Operation Hernia has sent yearly missions to Bole Hospital to perform hernia surgery and to train local doctors. The prevalence of hernias in the Bole district is one the highest in Ghana.

The hospital has 2 theatres- a main theatre with ceiling light and a minor theatre with a standing operating light. The theatre has no recovery ward.

The Need for Theatre Recovery Ward

This is required for the recovery of patient who have general anaesthesia for their operations. Currently, these patients are sent directly to the ward which is not equipped to deal with patients requiring emergency resuscitation.

The majority of hernia operations performed by Operation Hernia surgeons are done under spinal anaesthetic or local anaesthesia infiltration. However the following categories of patients do have their operations under general anaesthesia: children, young patients and patients with incisional hernias. An adequate recovery facility in a theatre is an important safety issue. In fact Operation Hernia nearly lost a child at Bole Hospital because of the lack of a dedicated recovery theatre.

In addition to patients operated on during hernia missions, several patients at Bole hospital have their operations under general anaesthesia. Emergency surgery forms the bulk of operations performed in most district hospitals in Ghana. These operations are performed mostly under general anaesthesia.

Providing adequate theatre recovery facility would therefore be an invaluable service to the community as a whole.