The government has begun piloting a national emergency bed management system to improve the allocation of hospital beds and address Ghana’s persistent “no bed syndrome”.
Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh said the initiative will provide real-time information on bed availability and the number of patients occupying emergency units.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, Mr Akandoh said a command centre had been established at Ridge Hospital to oversee the pilot.
He said the system allows health authorities to monitor bed availability across participating facilities remotely.
“I have a screen in my office, so that if Korle-Bu says there’s no bed, I’m able to see how many beds are available, how many patients are in the emergency,” he said.
The pilot covers selected regional and teaching hospitals, with the system also tracking how long patients remain in emergency wards.
Mr Akandoh said the data would enable authorities to investigate prolonged stays, particularly when facilities report a shortage of beds.
“If you’ve been there for more than 24 hours, and they see you are still there, and they say there is no bed. I will be able to ask questions because there’s a whole command centre in charge of that,” he said.
The Minister stressed that the initiative is not designed to create additional hospital beds but to improve the management and utilisation of existing capacity.
“So this system will not necessarily add more beds, but it will help us to manage the scarce resources, so that one patient will not be on one bed at emergency for more hours or another,” he said.
Expansion of emergency capacity
The government is also expanding emergency capacity at major health facilities, including Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Tamale Teaching Hospital and 37 Military Hospital.
At Korle-Bu, Mr Akandoh said the emergency unit currently has about 67 beds, compared with more than 1,000 beds across the hospital.
He said construction was also underway on a 400-bed facility as part of a broader redevelopment project.
“The contractor is on site as I speak to you now. So we call it a hospital within a hospital,” he said.
The minister said teaching and regional hospitals participating in the pilot had been equipped with barcoded beds, while designated commanders at each facility are responsible for updating the system with real-time information.
“Yes, the beds have barcodes, and there are commanders at each facility to be putting the data in at every moment,” he said.
The ambulance service has also been integrated into the system to help determine the most appropriate facilities to which patients should be referred.
Mr Akandoh said more than 200 ambulances are currently operational after the government insured all its ambulances in 2025.
He added that the government plans to procure 100 new ambulances in 2027 to replenish the fleet.
“We are going to add 100 brand-new vehicles,” he said.
