Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Dr Kingsley Agyemang, has distanced the Parliamentary Health Committee from comments made by its Chairman, Mark Kurt Nawaane, suggesting that health workers who cannot cope with the demands of the profession should resign.

Dr Agyemang described the remarks as “unfortunate” and warned that such comments risk demoralising already overstretched health professionals who are working under severe systemic constraints within Ghana’s healthcare system.

His comments follow growing public concern over the death of Charles Amissah, a 29-year-old engineer who reportedly died after being turned away by multiple hospitals in Accra during a medical emergency due to claims of unavailable beds.

Addressing the media after receiving the findings of a three-member investigative committee chaired by Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosah, Mr Nawaane had urged medical professionals who are unable to cope with the pressures of the job to step aside.

“If you are a medical professional and you are tired of the work, you probably have to resign,” he stated.

The committee had recommended disciplinary action against some health workers over alleged professional breaches in the handling of the emergency case.

However, Dr Agyemang said the Chairman’s remarks do not represent the position of the entire Parliamentary Health Committee.

According to him, the comments reflect the personal views of the Chairman and some members of the majority side, rather than a collective bipartisan position.

“It is unfortunate that the Chairman was in a hurry to make comments without evaluating the impact such remarks could have on the morale of health workers,” he said.

“His views do not reflect the position of the entire Health Committee. They are his personal views and those of the majority side.”

Dr Agyemang argued that frontline health workers should not be blamed for systemic failures within the country’s emergency healthcare system.

He noted that many professionals continue to improvise under difficult conditions due to inadequate infrastructure, congestion, weak referral systems and resource constraints.

“Why should health workers who are improvising daily to save lives because of systemic failures bear the brunt of a sick healthcare system?” he questioned.

The controversy has reignited debate over Ghana’s long-standing “no-bed syndrome”, where emergency patients are reportedly turned away due to lack of capacity. The issue has gained national attention following several reported deaths linked to delays in emergency care.

Health professional bodies have repeatedly stressed that the challenge extends beyond bed shortages, pointing instead to deeper structural weaknesses in emergency healthcare delivery.

The Ghana Medical Association has called for a comprehensive overhaul of the emergency care system, citing poor coordination, weak ambulance-to-hospital communication and the absence of a centralised bed tracking system.

The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association has also warned that worsening congestion in major hospitals is endangering lives, noting that Ghana operates about 0.7 hospital beds per 1,000 people, below recommended standards.

Studies on Ghana’s emergency care system have further linked recurring fatalities to overcrowding, inadequate infrastructure, shortages of critical care personnel and poor referral coordination.

Dr Agyemang maintained that the focus of policymakers should be on strengthening and redesigning the emergency healthcare system rather than attributing blame to frontline workers operating under pressure.