The speaker proposes passage of the Emergency Care Law to address ‘no bed syndrome’.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has submitted a proposal to the house for the enactment of an Emergency Care Law, aimed at addressing the recurring problem of inadequate hospital bed availability.
He made the proposal during a discussion on the death of Charles Amissah, a victim of a hit-and-run incident who allegedly died after being refused treatment at three major hospitals.
Speaker Bagbin described Amissah’s death as “needless”. Consequently, he has instructed the health committee to examine the findings of all ongoing investigations into the incident.
He asserted that an emergency care law is crucial in preventing similar deaths resulting from delayed or denied urgent medical care.
“I will direct our Committee on Health to take all the reports that will come from the ministry, the Korle-Bu Hospital, or wherever, and go deeply into them. We have to take control; we need to enquire further into the matter, and we need to hold people accountable. This is one of the needless deaths we have experienced in this country,” he said.
“I will urge the House to legislate on the matter. We need to pass an emergency care law on this matter. The Chair of the Committee on Health, the Ranking Member, please carry your members along and work on this matter.
“At the end of the day, the minister responsible for health, together with the committee, will have to come before this House. Then we can take that opportunity to legislate on the matter and try to bring finality to these needless deaths in our country,” he added.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
