The President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Perpetual Ofori-Amanfo, has criticised the decision to publicly disclose the names of health professionals cited in the investigative report into the death of Charles Amissah, describing it as unnecessary and harmful.
The three-member investigative committee, chaired by Professor Agyeman Badu Akosah, recently presented its findings to the Minister of Health and Parliament’s Health Committee after probing the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Amissah, who reportedly died after being rejected by three health facilities.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Top Story on Thursday, May 6, Madam Ofori-Amanfo said while the association is yet to formally review the full report, the manner in which information has been released into the public domain raises serious concerns.
She noted that although accountability is important, naming individual health workers in such sensitive cases exposes them to undue public scrutiny and emotional distress.
“The report has come, and we’ve had snippets of it through media engagements and comments from the Ministry of Health. As an association, we are yet to convene our council to look at the issues,” she said.
“But in the interim, what we want to say is that this is not the first time such issues have come up in this country.”
She argued that it would have been more appropriate for the report to highlight categories of professionals involved, rather than identifying individuals.
“In putting out information into the public domain, I don’t think, and we don’t think, that it is necessary for all the names of these professionals to have been mentioned out there.
“At least to say that the three doctors or to say that the three nurses or to say that the four doctors or whatever would have survived,” she stated.
Madam Ofori-Amanfo stressed that the professionals named in the report are young practitioners serving under difficult systemic conditions, and deserve fair treatment and protection, especially regarding their mental health.
“These individuals committed no crime in going through medical school or nursing college to serve this country. We know the systemic challenges in our health system, and emergency care does not always come with ideal conditions,” she said.
She further noted that the case reflects a chain of events rather than the actions of isolated individuals, urging a broader examination of systemic failures within the health sector.
According to her, while accountability is necessary, public communication of such reports must be handled with sensitivity.
“If you are saying that the employer should address the matter or the regulatory body should address the matter, the communications, of course, will go, but there was no need. Is it to name a shame?
“If that’s where we are going as a country, then we have to name a shame when it comes to every issue related to this economy,” she added.
She cautioned that such approaches could have lasting psychological effects on health workers, particularly young professionals who are still building their careers.
“The mental health toll on these individuals is something we must not ignore,” she said, adding that responsible reporting and institutional handling of such cases are critical to maintaining trust in the health system.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Source: www.myjoyonline.com