No Bed Syndrome: Father Wants Answers On Death Of His Newborn Baby At Manhyia Hospital In 72-Hours

A grieving father has given a 72-hour ultimatum to the authorities of Manhyia Government Hospital in Kumasi to explain the circumstances that led to the death of his newborn child at the facility on Saturday, June 1, which could have been avoided.

Mr. Kwabena Nyantakyi believed his wife, Sister Afia, a patient at the hospital, would not have lost her child if the staff on duty had performed their duties well, a case he attributed to ‘total negligence of duty’, and has therefore threatened a legal action.

Narrating his wife’s ordeal on Otec FM’s morning shows ‘Nyansapo’ on Monday, June 10, 2019, he said a day before his wife expected delivery date, they went to the hospital in the evening after complaints of pregnancy complications but the nurses on duty refused to admit her, giving lack of delivery beds as a reason.

“My wife has been attending her anti-natal at the hospital and am sure they have all needed about her. Over seven hours of intense labour pains without been attended to, and seeing that the child was coming’ we begged the nurses to take her to the theatre for delivery, but they refused,” he told the host, Captain Koda.

“Her plea was to have the baby taken out by a Caesarean Section (CS), but her request was ignored despite her inability to push for natural delivery.” he sobbed.

“Twelve hours of intense labour pains, the CS was carried out but the child could not survive. The mother noticed that the newborn baby did not cry immediately after birth and the child was not given to her mother, raising a suspicion that the child is dead,” he continued.

He warned that “if after Wednesday the authorities at the hospital fail to give reasons for their actions that led to death of my son, I will seek a legal action against them for the necessary compensation.

He has also called on the Ghana Health Services (GHS) to set up an independent inquiry to the matther.

The Administrator of Manhyia Government Hospital, Mr Samuel Dodzi, when contacted by Otec News, declined to comment on the issue, saying he is yet to be briefed on the incident.

Speaking on the issue on the Programme, a Development Planning Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science Technology (KNUST), Dr. Stephen Takyi, called on government to increase funding for the health sector, emergency services in particular, as part of measures to solve the ‘no bed syndrome’ that has gripped the country’s leading hospitals.

According to Dr Takyi, the syndrome has led to a number of needless deaths with the recent being a 70-year-old who died in his car after being turned away from six public health facilities over lack of beds

On his part, Mr. Kwabena Owusu Nkatiah, an Economist, noted that more patients will continue to be refused admission hospitals because the health facilities have been overstretched of its capacity.

“To avoid this situation and to further prevent more people losing their lives as a result of the unavailability of beds at major hospitals, there is the need for the country to invest more in its health sector,” he added.