I vividly remember that fateful night when Mr. William Kweku Ansah had to be moved from one hospital to the other for medical care. He was gasping for breath and the expression on his face captured the excruciating pain he was enduring.<\/p>\n
He was rushed to a few hospitals for medical care but was turned away despite being in a critical condition. The only flimsy excuse these hospitals gave was that there was no space to admit my father.<\/p>\n
Not only was their excuse disheartening but the nonchalant attitude of these health officials was heartless for a patient whose days were literally numbered.<\/p>\n
My father had to be moved from one hospital to the other until he was finally admitted at a private hospital; but the unfortunate happened and your guess is as good as mine. He passed away a few minutes after.<\/p>\n
My father is one of the countless people who have passed away due to the poor services rendered mostly in government hospitals.<\/p>\n
The no bed syndrome, frowned faces and the general poor healthcare delivery at these health facilities is discouraging enough to compel a patient to give up on life.<\/p>\n
Health care delivery systems in Ghana, in my view, are continually deteriorating and this is unjustifiable.<\/p>\n
I will not just say this without providing clear instances of how some patients either passed away or in some cases sued some hospitals for negligence.<\/p>\n
37 Military Hospital sued Gh\u00a2 500,000<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2014, a woman who was delivered of a baby through Caesarean section at the 37 Military Hospital sued the hospital for professional negligence, alleging that a doctor left a surgical needle in her stomach after the operation.<\/p>\n Madam Victoria Kwaning, a mother of four, who sued for Gh\u00a2 500,000 in damages, accused the doctor of \u201creckless disregard for his professional obligation\u201d, and making her suffer severe medical complications and loss of business.<\/p>\n Death of Legon student<\/strong><\/p>\n In the same year, the family of Theodore Kwame Nutuse, a 19- year old student of the University of Ghana, who died at the same facility, blamed junior doctors there for his death.<\/p>\n Interesting twist<\/strong><\/p>\n In another instance, a patient passed away after being turned away from about three hospitals.<\/p>\n The Deputy Minister of Health, Victor Bampoe, posted on his Facebook page that the patient had to go through a \u201c12-hour ordeal of \u2018no bed, go to this or that hospital\u2019 which took them to three government hospitals until he finally succumbed to his illness in his nephew\u2019s arms on the grounds of one of the hospitals.\u201d<\/p>\n After this incident, the Minister of Health, Alex Segbefia requested that the family of the patient provide a written complaint to him to enable him set up a team to investigate the matter thoroughly and quickly.<\/p>\n But my question is; what new discoveries will the Ministry of Health make on this issue that we don\u2019t already know about?<\/p>\n This particular challenge has been lingering for years. The above mentioned cases are just few examples of the ordeal patients go through and what has the Ministry done to rectify the problem?<\/p>\n Perhaps various stakeholders responsible for quality healthcare delivery in Ghana should have a relative go through either the same or worst experience. Until that happens, there may perhaps not be a genuine desire and commitment to improve the country\u2019s healthcare system.<\/p>\n These stakeholders are so used to making vain promises and somehow think it alleviates the pain that families go through after losing a relative.<\/p>\n I think it rather aggravates the bitter experiences, especially when they realise over the years that the situation has not improved but worsened.<\/p>\n Government has over the years boasted about the grandiose infrastructural projects it is undertaking particularly in the health sector, but it is really disappointing to note that we still have challenges which span from infrastructure to even patient care at these facilities.<\/p>\n The citizenry always feel insulted and taken for granted when several promises to improve our health care delivery systems are not carried through.<\/p>\n We need a change; not vain talk. There should be a turnaround and the transformation should be evident.<\/p>\n – Email: efeansah@yahoo.com\u00a0
\nBy: Marian Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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