Former Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council, Dr Eli Atukpui, has called on the Minister for Health to formally refer the report on the death of Charles Amissah to the Medical and Dental Council for disciplinary action against any practitioners found culpable.

Speaking on JoyNews Desk on Thursday, May 7, Dr Atukpui explained that the disciplinary process could begin immediately once the Minister forwards the recommendations contained in the report to the Council.

According to him, the process would be straightforward because the chairman of the ministerial investigative committee, Agyeman Badu Akosa, is also the chairman of the Medical and Dental Council.

“Fortunately, the head of the committee or the ministerial committee is the chairman of the Medical and Dental Council, and therefore the process is very easy for now,” he said.

Read also: Committee probing death of Charles Amissah submits report to Health Minister

Dr Atukpui stated that the law requires a formal complaint to be made to the Medical and Dental Council before disciplinary proceedings can commence.

“The process requires that you make a complaint to the Medical and Dental Council,” he explained.

He therefore urged the Minister for Health to formally trigger the process by forwarding the relevant sections of the report to the Council.

“Now that Professor Akosa has submitted a report to the Minister for Health, I will request the Minister for Health to make reference to the area of the recommendations and just put a simple note, making reference and then refer the case to the Medical and Dental Council,” he said.

He explained that once the case is referred, the practitioners involved would be invited to respond to the allegations and appear before the Penal Cases Committee of the Council.

“Thereafter, the practitioners who are involved are requested to provide some information either in writing, and then they will be invited to face the Penal Cases Committee, which is the initial stage of really the investigations,” he stated.

Dr Atukpui added that the affected practitioners would be entitled to legal representation throughout the process.

“They can come with a lawyer or their lawyers, and then they go through,” he said.

According to him, if the Penal Cases Committee determines that there is a case to answer, the matter would then proceed to the disciplinary committee, which functions like a court.

“When the Penal Cases Committee has really gone through and realised that the practitioners have a case to answer, then the case is referred to the disciplinary committee, where the disciplinary committee will sit as a court to really deliberate on the issue,” he explained.

He also outlined the sanctions available to the Council if a practitioner is found guilty after the hearing.

“At the end of the day, when the practitioner is found guilty, there are three forms of sanctions,” he said.

“One, to reprimand the practitioner. Two, to suspend the practitioner over a period so determined by the Medical and Dental Council, or the disciplinary committee, will cause the practitioner’s name to be struck off the register of registered practitioners.”

Dr Atukpui explained that removing a practitioner’s name from the register effectively ends that person’s ability to practise medicine in Ghana.

“So basically that ends the process of disciplinary action in the event that that is required,” he added.