Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, is demanding the immediate summoning of the board and management of the Winneba Trauma and Specialist Hospital, along with the Ministry of Health, to respond to allegations that a patient was abandoned in a bush, leading to her death.
The woman was reportedly left in a bush at Gomoa Ojobi in the Central Region.
According to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the incident represents “the height of inhumanity, and Parliament should take an interest.”
The media reported on Wednesday, June 12, that a woman with casts on both legs, wrapped in a cloth, and with a wheelchair beside her, had been found abandoned in a bush.
Eyewitnesses in the community claim that the woman was left there by an ambulance from the Trauma and Specialist Hospital in Winneba.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Friday, June 14, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa condemned the act and called for all stakeholders involved to be urgently summoned to address the issue.
“It has been reported that doctors and nurses at the Winneba Government just threw out a patient who had an accident because they couldn’t locate her family.
“They just took her in an ambulance and went and dumped her in the bush and she died after three days.”
The MP specifically demanded that “we must summon the Health Minister, the Ghana Health Service, and the board and management of the Winneba Government Hospital.”
Majority Leader and MP for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, mentioned that he has already requested a full report from the hospital regarding the incident.
Earlier today, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) announced that it has begun investigations into the matter.
The Service’s Director-General, Patrick Kuma-Aboagye said investigations have commenced to “establish the authenticity or otherwise of the story in line with the existing practices in the public service to enable it to take appropriate action(s).”
The Majority Leader argues that Parliament should permit the Ghana Health Service to finalize its investigation into the issue.
Addressing the issue, Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin voiced concern over the repeated occurrences of such incidents in the country and urged the Ghana Health Service to expedite its investigation.