The Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) has threatened to sue the Ministry of Health over State medical institutions that charge unapproved fees to patrons.
The CPA has charged the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, to as a matter of urgency, put an end what it calls some of these negative practices currently ongoing at some public hospitals across the country.
According to CPA, these hospitals including the 37military Hospital and the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, are resulting to illegal means of taking money from patrons.
In an address to the press, the Chief Executive Officer of the CPA, Kofi Kapito, issued a 21 day ultimatum to the Health Ministry to put an end to such illegal levies or face court action.
“You go to a hospital and you are asked to pay. The excuse is because they need to maintain. For crying out loud, if they need to maintain it, do you know where they should start to look; Get that land cruiser from the chief executive land cruised and sell that land cruiser. Nobody in their right mind should even think they have the power to levy without being approved by Parliament.”
“I am giving the Minister of Health 21 days… if this practice is not stopped, they will see me in court because nobody is allowed to do an illegal act,” he said.
Mr. Kapito further lamented that, even private medical institutions where not offering extra charges to patrons.
“If I go to a private institution and the man says that is what his law says, I understand. But the funny thing is that even the private institutions are not even doing that so why should government institutions?”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana