Recent events at the Greater Accra Regional (Ridge) Hospital, where a confrontation between some youths and staff led to alleged assaults and service disruptions, demand a sober national conversation.
The committee noted no fractures for the nurse involved but flagged security, staffing and equipment gaps that magnified tensions.
Violence against health workers is unacceptable.
So, too, are recurrent public complaints, especially from women in labour, about disrespectful or dismissive care.
Both truths must guide reform.
The public looks to professional unions not only to defend members’ safety and welfare but also to set and enforce standards of conduct.
Are union leaders as visible in coaching, remediation and culture change as they are condemning attacks or threatening service withdrawals?
Facility managers and regulators share this duty: respectful maternity care, clear triage and time-to-first-assessment targets, privacy/birth-companion policies, and de-escalation protocols are not “nice to have”; they are clinical standards that prevent harm.
We must also ask if this is partly a training deficit. Pre-service curricula are strong on biomedicine but often light on communication, empathy, conflict management and teamwork under pressure.
Mandatory continuing professional development should include respectful-care modules, simulation for difficult conversations and mentored feedback on real cases.
At the system level, close the gaps that fuel conflict: reliable equipment, adequate security, crowd management in emergency units and transparent complaint-and-learning systems that apologise, fix and feed lessons back into practice.
Ghana’s health services include many selfless professionals who deserve safe workplaces and public trust; families deserve dignity, clarity and timely care.
A balanced accountability compact; the government and facility managers, regulators, unions, and communities can deliver both safety and respect.
Let Ridge be the wake-up call: match the energy used to protect staff with equal energy to lift service culture, so that care heals without hurting.
Jonathan Awewomom,
US-based Ghanaian Research Scientist.
E-mail: jonathankeinzie8a154@gmail.com
