Family petitions Ghana Health Service over death of member
The family of Ms Linda Adua, a 39-year-old caterer has petitioned the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye to investigations into circumstances leading to the bizarre death of their sister.
In the petition signed by Madam Abigail Adua, the deceased’s sister on behalf of the family and copied to the Media, the family accused some staff nurses at the Central Aflao Hospital, also known as Nkansah Hospital of medical negligence leading to the death of their sister.
They said, but for the lukewarm attitude towards the deceased by some staff of the Hospital on duty at the time the deceased was brought to the facility, her life would have been saved.
The petition said, in the early hours of April 11, 2023, the deceased complained of ill-health and requested that the son accompanied her to the Central Aflao Hospital to seek medical treatment.
The petition added that upon reaching the Hospital, two nurses on duty, Mr Kelvin Fenuku and Ms Christine Kebah refused to attend to the deceased upon the basis that the Hospital did not accept electronic money transactions or mobile money, as the deceased had no physical cash on her and pleaded to settle the GH¢400.00 deposit she was asked to pay via mobile money.
The family said, the nurses looked on unconcerned and busily scrolled through their mobile phones, whiles the deceased cried and begged them to at least administer some first aid or oxygen to her as she was having difficulty in breathing, but the nurses did none of that.
Master Jerry Nii Tetteh, the deceased’s 19 year old son told the GNA in an interview that, “all these while that my mother begged to be attended to, I was out of the Hospital premises on the instruction of the nurses looking for a mobile money merchant to assist in withdrawing the money to pay the deposit for my mum.
“It was so early in the morning about 4.00am. I did not find any merchant even after going as far as to the border, about two kilometres from the Hospital.”
“So, I have to return without the physical money, and by the time I got back, I realized that my mum was still sitting in the wheelchair where I left her, still crying for help and I could sense that her condition was getting worse,” Master Tetteh narrated.
He said the nurses later told him to go look for a taxi to convey her late mum to the Ketu South Municipal Hospital “as her condition was getting out of hand and beyond their strength.”
Master Tetteh said, upon reaching the Ketu South Municipal Hospital about a kilometre from the Central Aflao Hospital, unaccompanied by any of the nurses.
“Deceased was pronounced dead on arrival by medical staff there, who according to Master Tetteh, were sure she had passed away several minutes before reaching their facility.
The family is therefore by the petition calling on the Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to call for an immediate inquiry and thorough investigation into the unfortunate incident, to forestall a recurrence of same in health facilities across the country.”
Dr Alphonse Makafui Dzakpasu, Medical Superintendent of the Ketu South Municipal Hospital confirmed to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that a case of that nature was reported to the Ketu South Municipal Hospital on the said date, but the patient was brought into the Ketu South Municipal Hospital already dead.
Dr Gabriel Kwadjo Nkansa, Medical Director of Central Aflao Hospital told the GNA that, the Hospital received a copy of the petition in question and said the facility was conducting its investigations to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the contents of the petition.
Asked whether the Hospital management was aware of any such incident on the said date in the hospital’s records as captured in the petition, the medical director declined further comments and said the Hospital was seeking some legal advice on the issue.
