The family of a 50-year-old woman who died on Monday after Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital allegedly turned her away over claims there were no beds, is demanding investigations and sanctions for staff who denied her care.
According to the family, the staff on duty who had no name tags were reluctant to attend to the deceased, Sheila Mansa Fugar, who was battling for her life in an ambulance.
[contextly_sidebar id=”WxXCV0gGS5r0omYwPtkWU6qLldvV0AUo”]Sheila took ill on Thursday, September 13, 2018, and she was rushed to a private facility close enough to home where she was admitted and given infusions.
“The doctor suggested that we take her to a bigger facility when she was stable because she was aggressive and she was restless,” her nephew Ebenezer Carboo-Hartog recounted to Citi News.
On Saturday, her condition worsened, and she was put on oxygen.
After struggling for an ambulance, they made their way to Korle Bu hospital where they say they were met with claims there was no bed.
“The reception was very bad in the sense that the staff over there told us plainly there was no bed… when we got to the emergency unit, and we asked for us to be given some care, the person said there was no bed and turned us away,” Ebenezer said.
“The staff instructed a lady subordinate to try and attend to us; she didn’t respond, she was reluctant. In fact, they both didn’t care.”
The family then drove off to another private facility where she was stabilized until the facility run out of oxygen.
Madam Sheila eventually died at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital at Ridge at 4:30 am on Monday, September 17, 2018. Madam Sheila’s death has shaken her family beyond words as they mourn her passing.
Her niece, Mildred Okyere broke down in tears as she described how her aunt was like a mother to her.
The family wants the matter investigated and persons involved punished to avoid a recurrence of such deaths.
Meanwhile, when Citi News reached out to Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for comment, its authorities deferred speaking on the matter to Monday.
This death comes after a 70-year-old man, Anthony Opoku-Acheampong, died after seven hospitals in Accra turned him away over claims that there were no beds in June, 2018.
Following that incident, the Ghana Health Service mong other things, also directed hospitals nationwide to treat emergency cases even when there were no beds.
The directive from the GHS also said hospitals and clinics should make every effort to stabilize the patients before referring them to the other facilities.
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By: Caleb Kudah/citinewsroom.com/Ghana