By Linda Naa Deide Aryeetey, GNA
Accra, May 6. GNA –The committee constituted to investigative the death of Mr Charles Amissah says the 29-year-old engineer died because he was denied of emergency care and medical neglect.
On February 6 this year, Mr Amissah was reported to have been knocked down in a hit-and-run incident near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Overpass in Accra.
Reports indicated that he was attended to by the National Ambulance Service right after the incidence but was turned away by the Police, Ridge, and the Korle Bu Teaching Hospitals due to lack of beds.
Social media reports earlier indicated that he died while still in transit.
Presenting the findings in Accra on Wednesday, Professor Badu Akosa, Chairman of the six-member committee, said Mr Amissah died from excessive blood loss (exsanguination) following a motorcycle accident at the Circle Overhead Bridge on February 6, 2026.
He said pathology reports confirmed that the victim suffered a “slow death from medical neglect” rather than instant trauma, indicating that timely intervention at any stage could have saved his life.
‘The Report on Investigations into the Untimely Death of Charles Amissah Due to the Denial of Emergency Care at the Police, Korle Bu and Ridge Hospitals’ showed that the ambulance arrived at the accident scene at 22:32 hours and transported the patient who was alive throughout the referrals to three major health facilities.
“The first stop was the Police Hospital at 22:43 hours, where the patient was not attended to and was referred onward after 11 minutes, he arrived at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital at 22:58 hours but was again not stabilised and was referred after 17 minutes,” he said
Prof. Akosa said as of 23:20 hours, the patient reached the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, where no emergency intervention was initiated and although a further referral to the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) was suggested, the ambulance team declined to proceed.
“Mr Amissah was pronounced dead at 00:30 hours approximately 118 minutes after the incident while still in the ambulance,” he said.
Professor Akosa emphasised that basic interventions such as applying pressure to control bleeding, wound packing, and administering intravenous fluids could have stabilised the patient.
“If at any of these facilities there had been medical intervention, Charles Amissah could have survived,” he stated.
The Committee said the facility level, all three hospitals, the Police Hospital, Greater Accra Regional Hospital, and Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, failed to triage the patient and initiate life-saving interventions despite his critical condition.
It recommended disciplinary action against the affected doctors and nurses, including referrals to their respective institutions and regulatory bodies, the Medical and Dental Council and the Nurses and Midwives Council.
Professor Akosa stressed the urgent need to build a responsive emergency care system, noting that “avoidable deaths” must no longer be tolerated.
He called for the establishment of a national electronic emergency bed management system and a mandatory triage and stabilisation of all emergency patients in both public and private facilities
Responding to the report, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, Minister of Health, assured the public that the government would implement the Committee’s recommendations.
“I want to assure you that the details of the report, especially the recommendations, will be implemented to the letter,” he said.
He said steps were already underway to operationalise an electronic bed management system, beginning with regional and teaching hospitals, to improve real-time access to available beds.
Mr Akandoh said the Ghana Armed Forces Critical Care and Emergency Hospital would be integrated into the national emergency care framework and made accessible to the public.
The doctors cited in the report are; Dr. (Med) Anne-Marie Kudowor of Police Hospital, Dr. (Med) Nina Naomi Eyram of Ridge hospital, Dr. (Med) Ida Druant of Korle-Bu hospital and Dr. (Med) Genevieve Adjar also of Korle-Bu hospital.
The rest are; Miss Akosua B. Turkson of Ridge hospital, Miss Joy Daisy Nelson of Korle-Bu and Miss Salamatu Alhassan Aidoo of Korle-Bu hospital.
GNA
Reporter :Linda Naa Deide Aryeetey
[email protected]
Edited by Samuel Osei-Frempong
