The Minister of Health, Alex Segbefia has instructed Chief Executive Officers of various health facilities not to turn away patients seeking medical care at their facilities.
The directive follows the death of a patient who was rushed to three government hospitals for medical care but was turned away.
[contextly_sidebar id=”6RJTcTS68vmiFxVaynaT4J6v8s9gfzFT”]The Deputy Minister of Health, Victor Bampoe posted on his Facebook page that the patient had to go through a “12-hour ordeal of ‘no bed, go to this or that hospital’ which took them to three government hospitals until he finally succumbed to his illness in his nephew Vanel’s arms on the grounds of one of the hospitals.”
Mr. Bampoe revealed that the Health Minister has requested that “the family provides a written complaint to him to enable him set up a team to investigate the matter thoroughly and quickly”
“He promised the family of the deceased gentleman that he will share the outcome of the investigation with them, and make sure that the recommendations that come out of this investigation are implemented to minimize these occurrences. In other words, he hopes that this gentleman’s death would not have been in vain,” Mr. Bampoe added.
Below is the deputy Minister’s Facebook post
Victor Bampoe
1 hr · Accra ·
Today, the Hon Minister of Health and I met with Mrs Adwoa Abramsamadu and her son Vanel. The circumstance leading to the meeting was not a happy one. They lost a dear relative a few weeks ago. He had been ill and was rushed to a private hospital. This began a 12-hour ordeal of ‘no bed, go to this or that hospital’ which took them to three government hospitals until he finally succumbed to his illness in his nephew Vanel’s arms on the grounds of one of the hospitals. The story is harrowing and can happen to anyone. This account of events, if accurate, should not be happening in Ghana in 2016. The Hon Minister of Health expressed his own personal condolences and that of the Ministry of Health to the bereaved family. He has
- Requested that the family provide a written complaint to him to enable him set up a team to investigate the matter thoroughly and quickly
- Instructed the Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to, in collaboration with the CEOs of the Teaching hospitals, design and operationalize a system that will make it mandatory for designated officials at health facilities to send information about numbers of available beds daily, to enable patients to be directed where there are beds. He has also directed the DG and teaching hospital CEOs to instruct health facilities under their care not to turn away patients. The first order of business is to provide immediate ‘first-aid’ and stabilize the patient before referring him/her to another facility if necessary
- Promised the family of the deceased gentleman that he will share the outcome of the investigation with them, and make sure that the recommendations that come out of this investigation are implemented to minimize these occurrences. In other words, he hopes that this gentleman’s death would not have been in vain.
These issues have been with us for a long time. To curb this, we will need to do at least two things (1) address health worker attitudes, and (2) expand our health facilities – Ghana’s population is growing at 700,000/year and government is taking the expansion of health facilities very seriously – hence the numerous facilities being established
The issue of attitudes is a more complex one, and unless a system of sanctions is put in place to deter people from acting negligently, things will not change.
I will share updates about this matter on a continuous basis
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