Capacity of intensive care units in Ghana

PURPOSE: To document the equipment, resource and bed capacity of Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in the Republic of Ghana. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional observational study of all operating ICUs in Ghana. Sixteen operating ICUs in 9 hospitals were identified and surveyed (13 adult and 3 pediatric ICUs). RESULTS: There were a total of 113 adult and 36 pediatric ICU beds for a population of 30 million, (0.5 ICU beds per 100,000 people). The median number of staffed ICU beds and ventilators were 5 (IQR 4–6), and 4 (IQR 3–5) respectively. There were 2 pediatric and 6 adult intensivists practicing in the country. About half of the ICUs (56%) were staffed solely by non-intensivist providers. While there is adequate nursing support and availability of essential critical care medications, the current financing model for critical care delivery creates a significant barrier for most patients. CONCLUSION: Ghana has a significant shortage of critical care beds that are inequitably distributed across the country and a shortfall of intensivists to staff ICUs. A holistic approach that focuses on the key bottlenecks to quality improvement would be required to improve the capacity and quality of critical care delivery.