Former Vice President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr. Justice Yankson, has strongly condemned the recent assault on a medical officer at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, popularly known as Ridge Hospital.

Speaking on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show on Friday, August 22, Dr. Yankson urged patients and the public to exercise restraint when accessing healthcare, stressing that the health sector does not operate like a marketplace where the first to arrive is automatically served first.

“We should also begin to understand how the health system works. With all due respect, the healthcare system is not like the supermarket, where, for example, it is on first-come, first-served basis,” Dr. Yankson explained.

“We have a system where you may be the first person to enter the health facility, but we may have to end up treating somebody who came in two, three hours after you. The reason is that we have a situation where we have what we can describe as old cases and emergencies. And even within the emergency sector, we have a triaging system,” he added.

He further appealed for patience among clients and their relatives, noting that misunderstandings often lead to unnecessary hostility toward medical staff.

“Sometimes, unfortunately, the patients themselves are not patient, the relatives themselves are not patient, and when they see that attention is being given to someone, they believe that there is something odd and they begin to insult,” he said.

Background

The assault came to light after a viral video showed relatives of an accident victim physically attacking staff in Ridge Hospital’s emergency department.

In response, Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh visited the hospital to reassure healthcare workers, ordered tightened security, and launched an investigation.

A one-week committee has been tasked with probing the incident, administratively by the Ministry and criminally by the police, with public assurances that the law will take its course.

Arrests have already been confirmed, though details of suspects, including whether Ralph St. Williams, the instigator, is among them, remain undisclosed.