The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has urged government authorities to prioritise addressing long-standing weaknesses in the country’s emergency healthcare system rather than focusing solely on punitive measures against medical professionals cited in the death of Charles Amissah.
The Association noted that public debate following the release of the investigative committee’s report has largely centered on sanctions against health workers, while critical systemic failures highlighted in the findings have received little attention.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Thursday, May 7, GMA General Secretary Richard Selormey explained that the Association had only reviewed the abridged version of the report presented to the media by the Ministry of Health and the committee. He emphasised that the document contained several findings and recommendations aimed at strengthening emergency healthcare delivery, yet discussions over the past 24 hours had focused almost exclusively on disciplinary action against doctors and nurses named in the case.
He further warned that publicly naming the affected professionals has exposed some of them to threats, cyberbullying and intimidation even before regulatory bodies complete their disciplinary processes. Dr Selormey stressed that the committee’s findings themselves pointed to broader structural lapses, including the inability of ambulance personnel to administer critical emergency interventions such as pressure application and intravenous fluids that could have improved the patient’s survival chances.
“We should train EMTs to be able to do certain things so that the ambulance becomes an extension of emergency care until patients can secure formal treatment in a hospital setting. Have we been able to do the same? No.
“Multiple things were supposed to have been done, but the focus was rather on punishment and finding scapegoats. Eventually, we came back to the same unfortunate incidents because we refused to stop and solve the structural issues,” he said. According to the GMA, failure to implement those earlier reforms has contributed to repeated incidents within the healthcare system, warning that Ghana risks revisiting similar tragedies if attention remains fixed only on punishment instead of systemic change.
The comments come after Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh directed the Chief Director of the Ministry to initiate disciplinary proceedings against medical personnel cited in the report into the death of the 29-year-old engineer.
The investigative committee concluded that Charles Amissah died from medical neglect rather than injuries sustained during a hit-and-run accident at the Circle Overpass in Accra on February 6, 2026. Several doctors and nurses from the Police Hospital, Greater Accra Regional Hospital and Korle Bu Teaching Hospital are expected to face disciplinary action following the committee’s recommendations.
Source: Patricia Boakye