According to the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), there is no excuse for public and commercial healthcare facilities to refuse and turn away individuals who require urgent care.
Although private organisations may decide not to take particular patients, it was acknowledged that the fatalities and problems some patients experience as a result of situations of outright denial of admittance are unacceptable.
Dr. Titus Beyuo, the association's general secretary, said on Joy FM's Super Morning Show on Thursday that it is against the law for any government-funded public hospital to disregard a patient in an emergency.
"In an emergency, we have a procedure known as resuscitation. The first information about the patient can always be included together with resuscitation. Yes, the specifics are crucial since they Inform us about your capabilities and limitations. Some patients could view this as time waste, but we've always believed that students and professionals don't spend time on things like this.
"Start the resuscitation procedure even before you wish to ask these questions [about the vital signs] since you've observed a patient who is unconscious." What is evident to you, it is anticipated that you start that while you acquire the extra information, but these information are equally vital for this care and following care to prevent medical errors," he said. "The individual cannot give you their identity, bank details, or mode of financing.
Dr. Titus Beyuo expressed his opinions in response to some callers' stories of how health professionals ignored them despite their severe medical needs.
Fafa, an Accra resident, was one of the callers on that line. One day after the Covid-19 lockdown began, she gave birth prematurely. When she entered a polyclinic, she was informed that they could not treat her since she had not received prenatal treatment there before giving birth. They delayed cutting her umbilical chord until after an hour as a result. Fafa was forbidden from using the restroom.
This is a really bad circumstance, and the activities, I will say, are condemnable if they are as described here, Dr. Beyuo said. Because I treat pregnant patients as an obstetrician, I am passionate about this topic.
He clarified that pregnant women are permitted to maintain their medical information for a valid cause. With it, people are free to visit any medical facility and need to receive proper care.
The obstetrician admitted that Fafa's situation was complicated and important, and that the staff at the aforementioned polyclinic should have given it their full attention. "This is a premature delivery; the infant may need assistance, resuscitation, and all of that; why, however, were none of these things taken into consideration just because she did not attend prenatal there? Anywhere, public or private, because this is a government facility, that is not acceptable.
"In an emergency, no facility has the authority to turn someone away. In a walk-in, a private facility may decide "we do not desire to have you as our patient," but in a public institution, you are required by law to treat any Ghanaian who enters that facility since you are sponsored by the government of Ghana. "They are unable to refuse admission. This situation is urgent; whether it was private or public, as soon as you entered, she need care, he insisted.
The conversation focussed on the interactions people have with medical staff when they travel to clinics and hospitals. It originated from the Ghana Medical Association's 22nd Annual Public Lecture's subject, "Healthcare Worker-Patient Relationship in Contemporary Times." On Friday, July 29, 2022, the Public Lecture will take place at the Volta Serene Hotel in Ho.
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