The Western Regional Ambulance Service has welcomed a probe into circumstances that led to the death of a new mother at Fijai.

Speaking in an interview on Newsnight on Joy FM, the Coordinator of the Service, Dr Tawiah Siameh, said the outfit is ready to assist with investigations into the death of 31-year-old Augustina Awortwe.

“We are very ready to meet the Parliament’s Health Committee in investigations,” he assured.

Doctors at the Holy Child Catholic Hospital referred Augustina to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra after complications following a caesarean section.

On their way, the trip was diverted to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital when it was realised her condition was fast deteriorating.

She died on arrival.

The husband of the deceased, John Yeboah, noted that her journey did not materialise because the ambulance driver delayed transporting her.

He stressed that their inability to provide an amount of ¢600 to cover the cost of fuel for the ambulance led to the unfortunate incident.

But the Western Region Coordinator of the National Ambulance Service, Dr Tawiah Siameh, has rejected this claim, saying the Service was not negligent.

He told JoyNews in an interview that they acted timely.

“He [the husband] said he didn’t have enough money and that he had only ¢50. That was used to buy the fuel. On our way, we were called again to pick the one-day-old baby to be breastfed; so, we returned to the hospital. That caused some delay.”

Meanwhile, the Minority members on the Committee, led by Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, want the ambulance personnel interdicted, pending investigations and corrections of such anomalies.

“Issues about ambulances requesting money from patients before embarking on a journey is becoming very common in our system. So, for me as a Member of Parliament and a Ranking Member, we aim to bring this issue to the front burner, especially in Parliament, to investigate and make sure that these things will not re-occur.”