Following revelation of misappropriation of GH¢946,574.29 at the Pharmacy Department of the Korle-Bu teaching Hospital, the director of the department has been interdicted.
Mrs. Elizabeth Bruce and nine other employees of the hospital have also been interdicted, a statement from the management has indicated.
The other employees indicted include a pharmacy manager, a principal pharmacist, three senior pharmacists, two pharmacy accountants, the chief cashier and a stores assistant.
The forensic audit into the operations of the pharmacy department was commissioned by the then Health Minister, Ms. Sherry Ayittey. It revealed that bad procurement processes and collusion by suppliers resulted in the misappropriation of the amount.
The forensic audit covered the years 2010 to 2014.
The interdicted officials are expected to appear before an administrative inquiry to determine their guilt or otherwise.
The board added, it would not hesitate to call on the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to arrest officials where criminal actions were been confirmed.
The BNI would also assist the board to recover lost revenue, the statement said.
The board described the level of mismanagement at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital as an “endemic situation.”
Meanwhile, Ernest Chemists Ghana Ltd, a pharmaceutical company and supplier of drugs to the hospital, has been asked to return GH¢21,000 which the report found to have been illegally paid.
The audit report made 44 recommendations and asked for a strict adherence to the Public Procurement Law.
The director of pharmacy, in a response after checking the department’s books, acknowledged the findings of the audit as factual.
The pharmacy manager and staff at the department have expressed surprise about the shortage in cash lodgments because cash was paid into the bank every day.
The pharmacy’s checks also showed that a number of computer printouts from the daily sales summary had been forged and the amount on them reduced drastically.
The staff indicated that the department had done all it should and could not be held liable for the misappropriation.
They insisted that the accounts department respond to the discrepancies.
The originals of the daily cash detail sheets signed as proof of receipt of cash, were also missing.
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