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Winneba Hospital staff who abandoned patient in bush did not act appropriately, hand them over to police - Health Minister directs

Enoch Darfah Frimpong Oct - 02 - 2024 , 15:02

It has been concluded that the employees at the Trauma and Specialist Hospital at Winneba, who were involved in abandoning a patient in a bush in June 2024, which led to the death of the patient, "did not act appropriately."

The Minister of Health, has therefore directed that the affected staff should be reported to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the police and the Attorney General.

This follows the conclusion of investigations by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) into the incident, which concluded that the employees identified as having contributed to the planning, and evacuation of the patient from the hospital to Gomoa Ojobi in the Central Region, where she was was abandoned until her death, "did not act appropriately."

The GHS investigative committee started work from June 20, 2024 and ended on July 25, 2024.

In a press statement dated October 2, 2024, the Ministry of Health announced that the committee that investigated the June 2024 incident in their report recommended that the said staff be sanctioned by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) through Internal Disciplinary Procedures.

"However, the Ministry is of the view that in the light of the gravity of the issue captured in the report, involving the loss of life, further investigations should be carried out by the Honourable Attorney-General and Minister of Justice," it said.

Consequently, the Minister of Health has requested the assistance of the Attorney General to initiate an investigation into the case to determine the culpability or otherwise of the affected staff and take any further action deemed appropriate.

"This matter has also been reported to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID)" of the police, the statement added.

It said the Ministry of Health is committed to the recommendations made by the committee of the GHS.

Click this link for the full report of the committee

What happened?

In June 2024, it came out that a patient who was on admission at the Trauma and Specialist Hospital at Winneba had been discharged and abandoned in a bush.

An ambulance from the hospital was used to transport and dump the old woman who was still recovering from leg injuries after an accident at the road side near a bush.

Photos and videos shared on the internet showed the woman lying by the road side with P.O.P. on both legs and a wheelchair lying by her side.

It was a passerby who offered a cloth to help keep the old woman warm when she exhibited signs of feeling cold.

She died after some days of lying by the road side.

Before she died

The old woman, who was reportedly suffering from what was suspected to be a mental illness or dementia was reportedly involved in an accident and was taken to the Winneba Trauma and Specialist Hospital for medical attention.

She was taken to the hospital together with other accident victims and she stayed in the hospital at Winneba for about two months.

While all the other accident victims had relatives visiting them and taking them home after they were discharged, the said old woman never received a visitor or no family member showed up.

After some time on admission, the elderly woman after gaining consciousness was only able to give an indication that she was from Gomoa Ojobi in the Central Region.

Apart from that, she could not give hospital staff much information about herself to assist them trace her relatives.

No family members showed up at the hospital to engage the management of the hospital.

When the hospital authorities became fed up with her, especially as some hospital staff claimed, she was constantly screaming at night and disturbing patients and staff, they decided to go out to search for her relatives.

Since the little information they gathered was that she was from Gomoa Ojobi, they sent her away from the hospital in an ambulance.

Some residents said they spotted an ambulance from the hospital, and saw the staff removing and dumping the old woman by the road side at the outskirts of Gomoa Ojobi in a nearby bush.

After about a week of hanging and lying at the spot, she died.

Some residents said they were scared to go near her.

Attached below is a copy of the full report by the Ghana Health Service committee that investigated the incident