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The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), Dr. Ken Sagoe, has expressed concern over the rate at which some hospital staff sell consumables and other materials meant for health care. According to Dr. Sagoe, the authorities had "credible report" that suggested that those negative practices were going on in the hospital. Addressing the hospital's 2012 Annual Performance Review Meeting in Tamale yesterday, Dr Sagoe said the stolen medical consumables were often re-sold to service providers of the hospital. "The sale of items such as gloves, plaster and gauze is on the increase and it affects the hospital's finances and operations," he said. He indicated that the authorities were monitoring the situation and would soon come up with measures to deal with it. Dr. Sagoe said the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) owed the hospital GH�2.2 million, as a result of which healthcare delivery to a significant number of patients of the hospital was affected. He, therefore, entreated the NHIA authorities to put in place measures to reimburse the hospital. The CEO said the hospital spent GH�450,000 last year to rent and maintain accommodation for some key members of staff. Dr. Sagoe observed that while all the first batch of 30 doctors who graduated from the University for Development Studies(UDS) Medical School were currently working at the TTH, none of the first batch of 48 midwives trained in the region from the Nursing and Midwifery Training School was posted to the TTH. That, he noted, was a great disservice to the hospital, given that it played a key role in their training. Touching on utility services at the hospital, Dr. Sagoe intimated that erratic power supply at the hospital had had a heavy toll on its stand-by generators from wear and tear. On the future plans of the hospital, Dr. Sagoe said the authorities were working on the provision of an ambulance, fire and police stations within the hospital. The Northern Regional Co-ordinating Director, Alhaji Alhassan Issahaku, stressed the need for the hospital to modernise its operations and collaborate with the various district assemblies to enhance its operations.