The Chairman of Parliament’s Health Committee, Dr Mark Kurt Nawaane, has urged medical professionals who feel unable to cope with the demands of the profession to resign rather than compromise patient care and professional standards.
His remark follow the release of findings by a ministerial investigative committee into the death of Charles Amissah, an engineer who died after being denied timely emergency medical intervention following a hit-and-run accident in Accra earlier this year.
Speaking during an engagement with the committee that investigated the incident, Dr Nawaane stressed that healthcare delivery depended not only on infrastructure and logistics but also on the conduct, responsibility and ethical commitment of health professionals.
“We are saying that it is beyond just the facilities; it is the individuals. Please, if you are a medical professional and you are tired of the work, you can resign. Ghana will survive,” he stated.
The committee, chaired by renowned pathologist and former Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa, concluded that Charles Amissah died from prolonged and preventable blood loss due to failures in emergency medical care rather than from the initial injuries sustained in the road crash.
The report recommended disciplinary action against four doctors and three nurses drawn from the Police Hospital, the Greater Accra Regional Hospital and the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for breaches in duty of care during the emergency response.
Dr Nawaane commended the committee for what he described as a transparent and courageous investigation, particularly its decision to identify individuals alleged to have engaged in professional misconduct.
“Immediately we started and mentioned medical negligence and even started coming up with names, and I said thank God, this is a step forward,” he said.
According to him, previous investigations into similar incidents often focused only on institutional weaknesses while avoiding individual accountability.
“Now we are saying that it is beyond just a facility. It is the individuals,” he stressed.
The chairman also urged healthcare workers to seek guidance from senior colleagues whenever they encounter situations beyond their competence rather than mishandling critical cases.
“If you are ready to work, there are ethics. If you can’t do something, you call your colleague doctor or senior doctor. One funny thing about the senior doctors is that they are always happy to be called,” he added.
Prof. Badu Akosa, meanwhile, cautioned against allowing the report to suffer the fate of previous inquiry findings that were never implemented.
“We believe that this is not the first time an event like this has happened. Committee reports were done and the reports collected dust. We want to ensure that this report does not collect dust but is acted upon,” he said.
The findings have triggered intense national debate over accountability in Ghana’s healthcare system, particularly emergency response procedures and referral systems.
The Ghana Medical Association (GMA), however, has expressed concern that public attention has shifted excessively towards the naming of individual health workers instead of addressing broader structural deficiencies within the emergency healthcare system.
In a statement issued on May 7, the Association acknowledged the committee’s findings but warned against reducing the tragedy solely to personal blame.
According to the GMA, the report itself identified “significant systemic weaknesses and longstanding gaps in emergency care delivery in Ghana”.
The Association argued that naming the professionals involved had redirected public discourse towards attacks on individuals rather than sustained discussion on institutional reforms needed to prevent future avoidable deaths.
Charles Amissah, who worked with Promasidor Ghana, was reportedly transferred between the Police Hospital, the Greater Accra Regional Hospital and the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital after the accident in February.
The investigative committee found that despite remaining alive during the transfers, he did not receive critical interventions such as bleeding control, intravenous fluids or blood transfusion.
The report described his injuries as survivable if prompt emergency treatment had been administered at any of the facilities.
Following the report, the Ministry of Health directed seven health professionals from the three hospitals to face disciplinary action, while also announcing reforms aimed at improving emergency healthcare delivery nationwide.
Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh said the government would implement measures, including a national electronic bed management system and the opening of the Ghana Armed Forces Critical Care and Emergency Hospital for public use.
The committee also proposed the establishment of a national emergency care fund to guarantee immediate treatment for critically ill patients regardless of their financial circumstances.
Prof. Akosa said the incident should serve as a turning point for Ghana’s healthcare system, warning that avoidable deaths would continue unless longstanding structural weaknesses were urgently addressed.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh