Gov’t Pushes Shift to Prehospital Emergency Care as Ministry Announces New Policy Direction
Ghana’s emergency healthcare system is set for a major policy shift that will move the focus away from basic patient transportation to comprehensive prehospital care, stabilisation and swift hospital transfers, the Ministry of Health has announced.
Speaking on behalf of the Chief Director of the Ministry, Mr Desmond Boateng, the Director of Technical Coordination, Dr Hafiz Adam, told participants at the National Ambulance Service Annual and Mid-Year Performance Review Conference in Accra that life-saving interventions delivered before a patient reaches hospital remain the single most critical factor in emergency survival rates.
The conference was held under the theme “Beyond Transport: Strengthening Prehospital Emergency Care, Stabilisation and Timely Patient Transfer.”
Dr Adam told executive leadership, regional managers and frontline personnel that the health system must now treat prehospital management as a foundational pillar of emergency medicine.
He said outcomes in trauma, cardiac arrest, stroke and obstetric complications are largely determined within the “golden hour,” the critical window between the onset of an emergency and definitive medical care.
According to him, swift assessment, early stabilisation, airway and circulation management and pain relief at the scene are not incidental but foundational, and every ambulance must operate as an active emergency care environment rather than a simple transit vehicle.
To drive the change, the Ministry of Health is committing to strengthen clinical governance frameworks, update protocols to align with international best practices, and expand training in advanced life support for Emergency Medical Technicians nationwide.
While commending the National Ambulance Service for expanding its regional reach and improving response times, Dr Adam acknowledged persistent challenges including fleet maintenance, fuel logistics, human resource constraints and geographic barriers in underserved areas.
He placed special emphasis on delays during patient handovers at receiving facilities, calling for stronger coordination between the Ambulance Service and teaching, regional and district hospitals to establish seamless referral protocols, precise clinical documentation and immediate admission into emergency departments.
Looking ahead to the second half of the year, he outlined priority areas to include continuous professional development and advanced life support certification for staff, standardized referral networks and pre-notification systems to prepare emergency rooms ahead of ambulance arrivals, improved data collection and real-time analysis to optimize dispatching and fleet management, and nationwide public education on the proper use of emergency numbers and the need for motorists to yield right-of-way.
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