Dumped Patient: Staff of Trauma Specialist Hospital Found Culpable

An investigation by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has found some staff of the Trauma and Specialist Hospital in Winneba culpable in the transportation and abandonment of a patient in a bush at Gomoa Ojobi in the Central Region four months ago.

The report concluded that the “employees identified as having contributed to the planning and evacuation of the patient from the hospital to Ojobi, where she was abandoned until her death, did not act appropriately”.

The committee thus recommended that the implicated staff be sanctioned by the GHS through Internal Disciplinary Procedures, a statement by the Ministry of Health announced on October 2.

Following the release of the report, the sector Minister, Dr Bernard Okoe Boye forwarded the case to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Attorney General’s Department.

“The Ministry is of the view that in 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 for Justice. Ministry of Health has requested the assistance of the AG 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 Investigation Department (CID),” it added.

The Ministry assured the public of its commitment to the recommendations of the committee.

Background
The story of a middle-aged woman went viral after she was found dead at the exact point she was abandoned by the Winneba Trauma and Specialist Hospital.

She was sent to the hospital after being knocked down by a vehicle on May 29, 2024. This was after the National Ambulance Service through a call to the Social Welfare Officer had requested to bring her in.

“The victim of the accident was brought to the hospital by the National Ambulance Service accompanied by the Social Welfare Officer of Gomoa Ojobi and the treatment process started in earnest on the same day,” the hospital said in a statement.

According to the hospital, she was given medical treatment after examinations were conducted on her with her feeding, medication and housekeeping borne by the facility throughout the six days when she was on admission.

However, it was noted that the patient became disoriented at some point and began demanding her discharge when she recovered, it said.

“At a certain point in time during the treatment process, the patient became disoriented and started to exhibit some amount of violence. However, after gaining some strength and consciousness, the patient was calm and wished to have been sent back to where she was picked up.

“Moreover, after the patient was declared well by the Clinician, coupled with the fact that she was itching to leave the hospital, a consensus was reached by the two social welfare officers to send her back to Gomoa Ojobi as agreed by the two social workers.”

She was thus discharged on June 6, 2024, and conveyed to the Gomoa Ojobi community- where she told officials she hailed from- by the hospital Ambulance accompanied by the social welfare officer and a staff of the hospital.

She subsequently died in the bush.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini