Speaker advocates for Private Member's Bill to deal with medical negligence

The Speaker of Parliament has advocated for a Private Member's Bill to deal with what he referred to as a ‘medical negligence’ to protect all citizens in Ghana.

Professor Mike Aaron Oquaye thought the currents Laws are full of gaps, when it comes to, Healthcare provider-patients relationship particularly at The Public Health Facilities in The Country.

According to him, “honorable members, sometimes we say we have Laws, in fact very often we don’t really have laws, there are too many gaps in our laws. If anyone visited a Doctor with a burnt, cut or abrasion that Doctor is bound by law to report the matter to the police and nobody should go to him and say this is domestic matter”.

He argued that, “there must be specific laws on specific mischiefs that we consider as Members Parliament worry or border our people, we need a Private Member’s Bill to enhance the perimeters of the law and protect out people, asking “what law are these people (Medical Officers ) breaking by telling our people no bed, in other jurisdictions there are specific laws that deal with matters like that but we don’t have it”.

Speaking on the statement made by MP for Ledzokuku, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye on the topic: ‘No bed’ phenomenon in health facilities in Ghana, Speaker directed the joint Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, and Health and the Members of Parliament to examine all the relevant laws seriously and find out where are the gaps that allow people to do these things (turning people away) to our people. 

 

 

He emphasized that there is the need to “look at our own provisions and come up with new clauses ‘like no Public Hospital, no Public Medical person employed in Public Owned Facility shall refused to attend to a person whose is brought in, an emergency situation to a Public Hospital and that is an offence, that is a crime and in fact it is very easy to associate it with manslaughter, the essence of it, is negligence. So if the person dies, you The Medical Officer you will be charged with a manslaughter”.   

 

The statement followed the death of a 70-year-old patient after been refused admission by seven hospitals. The late Anthony Achemapong died on 3 June 2018 at the LEKMA hospital after he was refused admission at six hospitals he had earlier been taken to by his family.

Dr. Boye in his statement noted that, “no bed syndrome is not only a Public Health issues, it is a national security matter. This House is representative of the nation enough and legally empowered adequately to go into this matter and lead the way in finding a potent policy to address this no bed problem”.

 

Story by Edzorna Francis Mensah

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