A case of medical negligence that led to the death of a patient has hit the Central Aflao Hospital in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region.
Added to that, two nurses who have been named as being directly involved in the case, are being investigated together with the hospital, the Daily Graphic has reported.
Detailing what it found out, the paper said that the alleged medical negligence of the two nurses led to the death of a critically-ill patient who came to their health facility, after they refused to attend to her on grounds that she needed to deposit money before she was attended to.
Linda Adua, 39 – the deceased patient, is said to have made several pleas to the health workers, in the company of her 19-year-old son, that they wanted to make payment via Mobile Money, but none of their attempts could convince the nurses who also insisted on a cash and carry system or nothing could be done to help her.
The case, which is currently before the president of Ghana, the Minister of Health, the Ghana Health Service, and the Medical and Dental Council, is said to have become critical because the nurses left Linda unattended until she gave up the ghost at their facility.
The report added that since the incident of April 11, the Medical and Dental Council and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) have swiftly responded to the petition by the deceased’s family, and dispatched a team of investigators to the hospital to probe the matter.
An elder sister of the late Linda, Abigail Adua, is reported to have told the newspaper that it was only after her sister died that her nephew was directed to take his mother to another government facility, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
She also told the paper that Linda run a restaurant in Aflao, where she lived with her son.
Her son, Jerry Nii Tetteh, is also reported to have recently gained admission to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology but is now left traumatised over the death of his mother.
Further explaining what happened on the day her sister died, Abigail said that the two nurses who are currently being investigated requested a deposit of GH¢400 from them but they said they could only make payment through e-payment but they refused even though it was very early in the morning.
“They reached the hospital around 4:05 a.m., and were met by two nurses on duty, who requested that they deposited GH¢400 before she would be attended to.
“My sister pleaded with the nurses to take the MoMo and attend to her because it was too early in the morning to find a merchant to withdraw the money, but they refused,” she said, the report added.
Eventually, Jerry had to trek from the Central Aflao Hospital to the Avoeme Junction – a long distance away, before he got lucky with a motorbike that took him to the Aflao Border, about two kilometres from the hospital, in search of a mobile money merchant.
“All this while, Linda remained seated in a wheelchair in the outpatient department (OPD) unattended to by the nurses. No details of the complaints were recorded, and her vitals were also not taken except her name which was recorded in the patient register at the OPD,” she added.
But he again did not get lucky, and all the while, Abigail said that her sister complained of difficulties in breathing and asked for help but that was when one of the nurses got even more incensed at her request.
“One of the nurses retorted that she was disturbing them as she scanned her phone,” she told the paper.
Abigail continued her narration that before long, things got out of hand when another patient saw her sister, who was being wheeled to one of the wards, fall off to the ground.
She added that noticing that there was danger at play, the nurses then told Jerry, the woman’s son, to get a taxi and send his mother to another health facility because they were unable to attend to her situation.
“It was at that point that another patient in the ward, who witnessed the whole incident, rushed out to inform the nurses about what had happened.
“The nurse, apparently sensing danger, told Linda’s son to get a taxi and take her to the Ketu South Municipal Hospital as her situation was beyond their capacity,” she said.
However, on arrival at the Ketu South Municipal Hospital, Linda Adua was pronounced dead on arrival.
The Medical Director of the Aflao Central Hospital, Dr Gabrielle Kojo, confirmed the case, adding that a team had been sent to their facility to investigate the matter.
“The police have summoned us to release the nurses involved for interrogation on the matter, which we have done,” he said.
The family of the late Linda is yet to bury her, the report added.
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