Taxis transporting patients at Asuofua-Barekese Hospital

A painstaking investigation conducted by Abusua Dawuro reporter, Osei Kwadwo, has revealed that the Asuofua Health Centre and Barekese Hospital respectively have no reliable ambulance service.

In case of emergency, both health facilities rely on the one and only ambulance van serving the entire Ashanti Region. But in the absence of the ambulance, taxis are used to transport the sick for emergency medical attention.

Assistant Physician at the Asuofua Health Centre, Dr. Peter Fosu in an interview disclosed taxis are the mode of transport during medical emergencies due to lack of a designated ambulance.

He said the situation is seriously affecting health administration and emergency medical service.

A section of the taxi drivers said using their cars as a substitute to ambulance is very dangerous when plying the deplorable roads.

According to them, whiles trying to save people, police always arrest them for using their taxis as ambulance service.

“We are appealing to the government to provide an ambulance to help reduce high rate of deaths. Some patients lost their lives when we are sending them to hospital due to traffic and delay” they said.