The Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, has demanded swift action and accountability after reports emerged that a hit-and-run casualty was allegedly refused admission by three leading hospitals because there were no available beds.

Addressing Parliament on Tuesday, February 24, Mr Ayariga noted that the episode which has once again sparked public anger over shortcomings in emergency medical services highlights entrenched structural challenges within the healthcare system that require urgent attention.

He said it was difficult to comprehend how an injured person could reportedly be shuttled between health facilities without being given prompt critical care.

Characterising the situation as deeply concerning, the Majority Leader stressed that incidents of this nature underscore a wider national issue that cannot be overlooked. 

“Speaker, I speak as somebody who was kept alive because the emergency ward of a hospital worked for me, and it must work for everybody, every citizen. In some jurisdictions, there would have been public outrage… that an accident victim was moved from hospital to hospital, and the medical personnel there refused to treat it as an emergency. It says everything about us as a country. The indiscipline, the disregard for human life, the lack of fellow feeling, that we don’t see that this is a fellow Ghanaian,” he said.