Emergency Health Service Collapses in Ashanti Region - Dr. Osei Ampofo

An Emergency Medicine Specialist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi Dr. Maxwell Osei Ampofo said only three out of 17 National Ambulance Service stations in the Ashanti region are operational, a fear he believed the Emergency Health Service is on the verge of collapse in the Region as the majority of ambulances are grounded.

Speaking on OTEC FM’S Breakfast Show ‘Nyansapo’ on Friday, June 22, 2018 Dr. Osei Ampofo noted that pre-hospital emergency care provided by the Ambulance services is absent for mostly trauma victims and therefore called on the authorities for an immediate intervention to rectify the anomaly.

“The Emergency Service has only three national ambulance stations serving the entire region, most of the vans have broken down due to their life span. Every ambulance needs to be replaced, not serviced, in every five years, but most of them have been used for more than ten years, so their lives’ spans are over,” he revealed.

“Apart from Manso Nkwanta, Offinso and KATH in Kumasi, all other stations are not operational, which is very pathetic and needs an immediate attention to improve upon the healthcare delivery in the region. The situation compelled relatives of most referred patients from other hospitals to rely on commercial vehicles which sometimes compound the patients’ situation,” he bemoaned.

He then called on the Health authorities in the country to address the situation immediately to save lives.

KATH as referral facility
Dr. Osei Ampofo said KATH is clearly not fit for the status of a ‘referral facility’, with other multiple roles as a teaching hospital, a primary health care centre and a tertiary health facility, the existing facilities to be expanded to accommodate more patients to befit the referral status.

“The large clientele and the overstretched working inputs are affecting the hospital’s good customer care, leading to negative public perceptions about the hospital,” he noted.

But according to the Emergency Medicine Specialist, if some benevolent societies decide to donate thousands of beds there will no space to place them at hospital, the only thing we can do with it is to replace the weak ones.

‘’The lack of space has combined with inadequate beds and staff to create a disturbing situation, where patients literally queue for long hours before attended to’’, Dr. Osei Ampofo said.