Hospital referral took 3 hours to issue, ambulance an hour to arrive – Son of deceased lecturer recounts

A son of a deceased lecturer of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Dr. Kingsley Adjei, has bemoaned the deficiencies that continue to blight the health system of Ghana.

Speaking Monday on the ‘Anopa Bofo?' morning show on Angel 102.9 FM, Andy Adjei said referral to take his dying father from UCC hospital where he was admitted to another hospital for medical attention, took three hours to issue, despite confirmation that his father would be duly received and attended to.

“We were asked to take an ECG scan which we did and waited for an explanation of results but did not receive. All this while, my father kept complaining that his condition was worsening. I called another doctor from a different hospital, Cape Coast Teaching Hospital for assistance.

“He instructed me to ask for referral from the UCC hospital to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital. I even gave the phone to the doctor on duty to speak directly to him. Time had expired for the doctor at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital but due to his relationship with my father, he stayed. From about 8 am to 11 am, we were still at the UCC hospital just to get a referral, ” he lamented.

Andy Adjei also spoke about the Ambulance Service and how their delay affected them. He said, “We called the Ambulance Service for an Ambulance.

“They brought one but in it was with no oxygen. We had to look for one. When we got to the hospital, the report we received was that he was in a critical condition hence needs to be transported to Accra immediately, within the next four hours. We called Ghana Ambulance for help.

“One hour passed and we still haven’t gotten one because apparently they have not been able to confirm from Korle Bu that they are able to receive him. We were of the view that the arrangement could be made while en route but four hours after 12pm, we still were at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital.”

According to Andy, the delays resulted in them arriving at Accra at about 7:35 pm.

They were sent to Euracare Advanced Diagnostics at Labone where same tests conducted at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital were repeated.

“They could have told us they didn’t have the requisite equipment to attend to him for us to know what next to take but did not say it. They needed ICU and the doctors did their best to get that.

The delays coupled with the deteriorating health of the academic had resulted in cardiac arrest.

The doctors said there has been a blockage in the heart and so needed to undertake certain procedures.

“Everything proved futile [and] my father passed at 4:58 am the next morning.

The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, also according to reports, had problems with one of their ICU machines. So they also could not have helped in the situation,” Andy told host of the morning show, Captain Smart.

He said that all efforts to find someone influence the health care providers yielded no results.

Dr. Kingsley Adjei until his passing, was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast. He is survived by a wife and three children.