The acting Chief Executive Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Dr. Frank Owusu-Sekyere, has issued a stern warning against the theft of essential medical equipment at the facility.

He revealed that the hospital has been facing incidents where unscrupulous persons cut and steal copper pipes supplying oxygen to patients in various wards, posing a significant threat to healthcare delivery.

Speaking during an inspection of ongoing rehabilitation works at the hospital, Dr. Owusu-Sekyere expressed concerns over the financial burden these cases place on the hospital.

He further stated “We are more vigilant now. Then to add to it, we are in advance stages of procuring the services of private security to help with the dwindling numbers of our internal security, and if that comes on board, we think that we will be able to secure the place better.

“We have had to resort to CCTV, but these are not monitored in real time, so something happens, you probably may have an idea who might have done it, but by then, the harm has been caused already.

“It is ridiculously expensive to fix these copper pipes, so somebody takes a chunk of it for scrap, and we are paying through our noses to have that one fixed. I think the one that we are doing currently is costing us about GHS400,000 for something that somebody may have sold for GHS50.”

Sompaonline.com