Abstract |
This study evaluates the benefits of a reliable and effective ambulance emergency services towards healthcare provision at the district level in Ghana. It establishes the relationship between ambulance emergency services, healthcare provision and implications. A case study research approach is adopted to achieve the objectives of the research. Purposive sampling procedure is used to select 100 respondents from the target population comprising people with the experience of emergency cases and endured the service. The National Ambulance Service in the district has contributed to filling the lapses created by the ambulance service that hitherto operated in the district. The ambulance service is an effective extension of the regular health system to inaccessible and/or traumatised members of the district. The services are however being affected negatively by a perception that ambulances carry dead bodies, they demand for money before patients are transported by ambulances, the challenge of rising cost of fuel, inadequate number of ambulances and failure of emergency patients in paying the agreed hospital bills and emergency services. Public education on the ambulance and emergency services is imperative to rid of these false perceptions. A district emergency fund to help alleviate the heavy financial burdens on patients and their families will increase the patronage of the ambulance and emergency services. |