The Greater Accra Regional Hospital, also known as Ridge Hospital, the Ghana Health Service, and the Ministry of Health have been ordered by the High Court in Accra to pay damages of GH?3 million for medical negligence.
The sum was awarded in favor of Mohammed Mustapha, whose wife died at the facility following a caesarean section (C-section) due to the negligence of the hospital staff. She was 32 years old at the time of her death.
The Court presided over by Justice Ali Baba Abature, granted the sum after determining that the hospital staff failed to perform their duties properly.
The legal action was initiated in 2020.
In his judgment delivered on July 31, 2024, the presiding judge stated, “The evidence presented indicates that the deceased wife of the Plaintiff was 32 years old at the time of her death.
“She was a practicing nurse and thus had approximately 28 years of professional life remaining at the time of her death.
“She died in the 4th Defendant (Ridge) Hospital at 32 weeks of pregnancy, where she sought professional medical care after losing a previous pregnancy.
“The Plaintiff expended substantial amounts of money, time, and effort for the deceased’s antenatal visits to the 4th Defendant Hospital during her pregnancy, her hospitalization, and the complications leading to a caesarean section. She subsequently lost the child a few hours after the C-section, and ultimately, her own life.
“As a natural consequence, the Plaintiff is entitled to claim general damages, considering these factors, as no specific value can be placed on a human life,” the Court ruled.
“In conclusion, based on the foregoing findings of fact, judgment is entered in favor of the Plaintiff against the Defendants.
“Consequently, the Defendants are to jointly and severally pay the Plaintiff the sum of three million Ghana cedis (GH?3,000,000.00), taking into account the aforementioned facts and circumstances of the case.
“Costs of GH?10,000.00 are also awarded against the Defendants severally and jointly in favor of the Plaintiff,” the Court ordered.
Reliefs Sought
The Plaintiff, through his lawyers led by Reindorf Twumasi, sought the following reliefs:
A declaration that the death of the deceased arose from the negligence of the Defendants and/or their agents.
A declaration that the manner of the deceased’s death breached the strategic objectives of the National Health Policy adopted since 2007 and Ghana’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals on Maternal Health and Mortality.
General damages for negligence assessed at the sum pleaded in paragraph 21 of the Statement of Claim.
Legal fees and costs.
Particulars of Negligence
The Plaintiff specified the following claims of negligence against the Defendants:
That as part of its standing protocols prior to conducting an operation of this nature, the 4th Defendant was to develop a pre-operation and post-operation management plan.
That the plan developed by the 4th Defendant contained every step or activity and medication that must be administered to the patient before and after the operation.
That although the Plaintiff procured an anticoagulant before the surgery, the 4th Defendant failed to administer it to the deceased.
That the 4th Defendant’s protocols or standard practice required the administration of Prophylactic Anticoagulant Therapy (PAT) to every patient who undergoes a C-section after 12 hours of the procedure.
That the 4th Defendant did not include this therapy in the management plan of the deceased.
That the 4th Defendant failed to administer PAT despite knowing that the deceased was susceptible to Pulmonary Thromboembolism due to her weight, condition, and the surgery.
That the 4th Defendant owed a duty of care to include all necessary safety measures in the management plan and to administer PAT according to their own protocols, which they failed to do.
That this failure to uphold the duty of care led to the deceased’s death.
Defense
The Defendants acknowledged that the Plaintiff’s now-deceased wife was an outpatient at the 4th Defendant’s health facility, where she received antenatal care from about July 2019 until December 13, 2019.
The scan on the deceased revealed “severe intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)” with “abnormal umbilical artery Doppler,” which required urgent delivery through C-section. After delivery, the baby had “severe respiratory difficulties” and was transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), where it unfortunately passed away after 35 minutes.
The deceased also died 24 hours after the C-section from “Pulmonary embolism.” The Defendants asserted that the 4th Defendant had a pre-operation and post-operation management plan in place, which included the administration of certain prescribed medications, including an anticoagulant called FRAGMIN, which was not covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
However, the prescribed anticoagulant was not procured by the deceased or her relatives. Despite this, staff of the 4th Defendant administered anticoagulant medication borrowed from another patient after observing the deceased’s breathlessness.
The Defendants argued that they were not negligent as they complied with standard practices and the National Policy on Sustainable Development Goals and Maternal Health and Mortality. They contended that the Plaintiff’s family breached the Patient’s Charter by failing to provide the prescribed medication and breaking the news of the baby’s death to the deceased, who had just come out of surgery.
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