Accra hospitals get audit committees 2023
The Internal Audit Agency (IAA) has appointed 150 audit committee members to 21 health institutions in the Greater Accra Region.
Within the next four years, they must ensure the proper operation of the control systems in the facilities and report any discrepancies to external auditors.
The committee members will serve in Polyclinics, District, and Regional Hospitals, advising hospital administration on the appropriate use of funds.
Inaugurating the committees, Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency, stated that the initiative intended to improve internal control structures in public institutions in order to increase value for money.
Accra’s healthcare facilities have a new audit committee.
“We have realized that the Audit Committees in the health sector are not operating properly; the 2021 Auditor General report identified numerous irregularities in the health sector, so the Agency is collaborating with them to implement control structures,” he said.
According to him, the majority of the over GHS 1,080,913,824 indiscretions identified in the 2021 Auditor-General’s report occurred in health institutions.
“According to the 2021 report of the Auditor General, 17 out of 32 MOH institutions’ financial statements were qualified,” he said.
Dr. Osae stated that 52 of the 212 pages of the Audit Report concerned institutions in the health sector, indicating that the internal control systems in the health sector were inadequate.
In the 2021 report of the Auditor-General on public corporations and other statutory institutions, he stated that irregularities in four health institutions totaled GHS 22,704,173.45.
He also stated that the Agency was collaborating with the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) to enhance accountability and control systems in the education and health sector institutions in order to increase access for women and the vulnerable.
Greater Accra Regional Health Director Dr. Charity Sarpong stated that the audit committee was crucial to the governance of health institutions and required the support of management and all-important stakeholders.
She urged the committees to collaborate with hospital administration to guarantee the appropriate use of funds and resources.
The Regional Health Director urged the committees to be aware of and guided by the laws that governed their work.
“I hope that the audit committees inaugurated today will live up to expectations and contribute to strengthening control and accountability systems in health sector institutions,” said Dr. Sarpong.