Almost a year after a committee came out with findings on the death of a man denied treatment at seven hospitals over purported lack of beds, none of the health personnel indicted have been sanctioned.
In June 2018, 70-year-old Anthony Opoku-Acheampong died after being turned away wrongly by some hospitals for lack of beds sparking public outrage.
He had been sent to the C&J Medicare Hospital at Adabraka, the Korle Bu Teaching hospital, Korle Bu Polyclinic, the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge), the Police Hospital, Trust Hospital, and finally the LEKMA Hospital at Teshie where he died in his car.
The six-member committee probing the matter found that at C&J Medicare Hospital, for example, there were 20 empty beds at the time the man was brought in for medical care.
At the Greater Accra Regional Hospital and LEKMA Hospital, there were beds available in wards outside the emergency unit.
On Citi TV‘s The Point of View, Deputy Health Minister, Alex Abban noted that the indicted persons “were required to be dealt with by their respective regulatory bodies.”
“But as at now, I do not have any evidence that anybody has been punished for their negligence or anything leading to the death of a man,” he said.
Also on the show, the President of the Ghana Registered Nurses & Midwives Association, Dr. Kweku Asante-Krobea said his outfit is the process of meting out sanctions.
Dr. Asante-Krobea, who is a member of the disciplinary subcommittee of the council explained that after receiving the report from the Ghana Health Service, he said there have been a number of sittings to receive more reports and hear from those indicted.
“Two of them are on the line to possibly face disciplinary action. The committee has finished its work. It is not yet in the public domain,” he stated.