Former Member of Parliament for Anyaa Sowutuom, Dr. Dickson Adomako Kissi, has criticised the handling of the recent assault on health workers at Ridge Hospital, saying the incident reflects a deep systemic failure in Ghana’s healthcare security framework.
Speaking on Channel One TV‘s The Big Issue on Saturday August 23, he noted that in other countries, such a breach of hospital safety would have warranted the resignation of the Health Minister, regardless of political affiliation.
“In other jurisdictions, trust me, the minister would have resigned—Australia, other jurisdictions—because of this incident. It’s not about [Health Minister] Akandoh. It is about the fact that this is a system failure,” he said.
His comments follow the violent altercation on August 17, where nurses and medical staff at Ridge Hospital’s emergency unit were assaulted by relatives of a patient, sparking public outrage and renewed calls for better hospital security.Buy vitamins and supplements
Dr Kissi, who is also a medical doctor, said the lack of adequate security in emergency areas in health facilities is unacceptable and pointed to a broader issue that goes beyond any individual minister.Buy vitamins and supplements
“Hospitals should have good security to begin with—especially emergency areas,” he stressed. “There was a flaw in security system at Ridge.”
He also criticized the Health Ministry’s response, particularly the lack of thorough briefing and engagement with those directly affected before the Minister’s visit to the hospital.
“I’m not happy with the preparation before the minister visited the hospital. There should be appropriate briefing which should have involved the characters involved.”
Meanwhile, Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has set up a committee to investigate the Ridge Hospital incident, giving them a one-week ultimatum to present their findings and recommendations.Buy vitamins and supplements
Rejoice Tsotso Bortei, a nurse at Ridge Hospital assaulted during the violent incident has also filed a GHS 7 million civil lawsuit against social media personality and activist Ralph Saint Williams, also known as “Ralph De Fellow Ghanaian,” for alleged physical assault and defamation.
