The President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr Ernest Yorke, has cautioned against making doctors and nurses scapegoats following the release of the report into the death of engineer Charles Amissah.
Speaking in an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Dr Yorke said while some commentary surrounding the report suggests that certain health professionals may have failed in their duties, the country must not overlook the deeper systemic problems within the healthcare system.
“The commentary that is coming suggests that some doctors or nurses didn’t do something right, but there is a wider systemic issue,” he said.
According to him, focusing solely on individual blame without addressing structural challenges in emergency healthcare delivery could result in similar tragedies in the future.
“So if we ignore that and focus only on the culpability of doctors and nurses, in five years’ time we may still be having this same conversation, with patients being transferred to five different hospitals and nothing happening because there will be no bed or oxygen when they arrive,” he stated.
Dr Yorke acknowledged that some health workers involved in the case have been referred for disciplinary proceedings, describing the move as the appropriate process.
“They have been referred for disciplinary proceedings, and for me, that is okay because it is the right process to follow,” he noted.
However, he stressed that the disciplinary process must be fair and should not turn health professionals into scapegoats for broader failures within the healthcare system.
“But let’s not use them as scapegoats,” he stressed.
The GMA President said the Association would closely monitor the proceedings and engage its members to ensure fairness throughout the process.
“We will be monitoring the issues and engaging our members to determine whether they are being treated fairly or not. The process must be allowed to continue and the outcome pronounced,” he added.
Dr Yorke further called on Ghanaians to treat the incident as a national lesson and work collectively to improve emergency healthcare delivery across the country.
“Because we are all potential patients and could find ourselves in such situations one day, we must use this opportunity and vow that this should never happen again. No matter how tragic the incident is, we must all come together and deal with it as our collective responsibility,” he said.
The Ministry of Health has directed seven health professionals to face disciplinary action following investigations into Mr Amissah’s death. They include Dr Aida Druante, Dr Genevieve Adjah, Joy Daisy Nelson and Salamatu Alhassan of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), as well as Dr Nina Naomin Eyram and Akosua B. Turkson of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (GARH), and Dr Anne-Marie Kudowo of the Police Hospital.
Charles Amissah, an engineer with Promasidor Ghana Limited, died from injuries sustained in a hit-and-run accident after he was knocked off his motorbike in February 2026.
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