Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, has expressed confidence that the Ghana Health Service's investigation into allegations that the Winneba Trauma & Specialist Hospital abandoned a patient in the bush at Gomoa Ojobi in the Central Region, will address systemic issues that led to the incident.

According to the Ghana Health Service, the patient had been hospitalised for several days following a severe accident and had remained under the hospital’s care without family support to settle her medical bills.

Speaking to Sweety Abochie on the AM Show on June 17, Dr Nsiah Asare assured the public that measures would be taken to prevent such occurrences.

“I believe the missing link is the coordination between the hospital and social welfare services. The hospital should have had a psychologist or psychiatrist to attend to the patient, but that did not happen. The continuity of care was mishandled, especially the communication between the hospital’s social welfare unit and their counterparts in Ojobi, who initially referred and brought the patient to the hospital.

“I expected the hospital's social welfare unit to hand over the patient to the social welfare department in Ojobi. Had this been done, we wouldn't be discussing this unfortunate situation. Questions need to be asked about the whereabouts of the social welfare personnel who brought the patient from Ojobi. Ideally, they should have come to the hospital and accompanied the patient in the ambulance to ensure her safe transfer. This oversight is where the problem lies" he noted.

“The lesson here is that the patient admitted with mental health issues after being hit by a vehicle should have received proper psychological and psychiatric care,”he added.