Health Minister Orders Arrest And Prosecution Of Hospital Staff Who Abandoned Old Lady In Bush

• Dr Okoe Boye, the Health Minister, has ordered the arrest and prosecution of medical staff involved in the abandonment of a patient in a bush at Gomoa Ojobi
• The Ghana Health Service concluded that the hospital staff had acted inappropriately, leading to the patient's death
• Six employees have since been indicted in the matter and are to be reported to the police and the attorney general

The Health Minister has ordered the arrest of medical staff involved in the abandonment of a patient at a bush in Gomoa Ojobi in June 2024, leading to her death.

The Ghana Health Service initiated investigations into the case after a viral video showed the old lady lying abandoned in the bush on the way to Ojobi.

The lady had apparently been abandoned there by the Winneba Trauma and Specialist Hospital staff.

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Following the investigation, the GHS concluded that the staff had not acted appropriately.

The Service had identified six persons involved in the incident.

The six include the hospital's Deputy Director of Nursing, who initiated arrangements to discharge the patient improperly; Eric Kwaku Arhinful, the physician assistant, who manually certified the patient's mental stability and proceeded with improper discharge; and Michael Peprah, the transport officer, who got a hospital ambulance, a stand-in driver, and fuel for the patient to be taken away.

The Principal Hospital Orderly, Evans Odae Acheampong, who drove the ambulance from the hospital to Ojobi; Dr George Prah, the Medical Director who authorised the ambulance’s release; and Kwame Asante Baidoo, the social worker who led the team to the point where the patient was abandoned, have also been indicted in the case.

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The Health Minister, Dr Okoe Boye, has since directed that all affected staff be reported to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and the Attorney General’s office for further investigations and prosecution.

Woman was abandoned for a week

The elderly woman, who was abandoned, reportedly died on June 10, 2024, after a week of abandonment at the roadside near a bush.

The accusations went viral on social media, prompting the service's intervention.

Photos and videos shared from where she was abandoned show a woman with a cast on both legs, lying down with a wheelchair by her side.

Some eyewitnesses have alleged they saw staff from the Ambulance Service removing the said old woman from an ambulance and dumping her by the roadside.

During her admission, the elderly woman could only indicate that she was from Gomoa Ojobi in the Central Region.

NGO says incident a learning curve

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YEN.com.gh reported that Accident Victim Support Ghana wants Ghanaians to pick critical lessons from the case of the Winneba Trauma Hospital patient who was controversially discharged and allegedly abandoned to die.

The President of Accident Victim Support Ghana, Rev Cyril Crabbe, told YEN.com.gh that the situation painted a picture of vulnerable accident victims' struggles.

He stressed that the challenges of accident victims needed to be addressed holistically with solutions ranging from financial to welfare.

Proofread by Berlinda Entsie, journalist and copy editor at YEN.com.gh

Source: YEN.com.gh