Ridge Committee Presents Report

The committee which investigated the circumstances leading to the death of Madam Gladys Ampadu at the Ridge Hospital on Friday presented its report to the Minister of Health, Dr. Wireku Afriyie, in Accra.

The Vice-President of the Ghana Bar Association, Mr Osah Mills who chaired the committee said its sittings spanned over three weeks and expressed the hope that its findings as well as recommendations will mark the way forward. He said the committee will issue another report very soon analyzing the reasons for the recommendations made. The chairman said the report was based on painstaking investigations conducted by the committee, during which a number of individuals, including Mr Kwesi Pratt, a journalist, were invited to appear before it. Also invited were the head of the Police Hospital Mortuary where the body of the deceased was deposited and all medical and non medical staff who were on duty on the day of the incident.

Dr. Afriyie commended the committee for the work done and gave the assurance that the ministry will study the report and make its contents known very soon.Other members of the committee were ASP A. Awuni, Secretary; Prof Clifford Tagoe, Dean of the Medical School, and Mrs Victoria Bekoe, formerly of the Midwifery Council. In November, this year, the Editor of the Weekly Insight, Mr Kwesi Pratt, alleged that the 31-year-old Madam Ampadu died tragically on the operating table at the Ridge Hospital in Accra, due to power failure. Dr. Afriyie, at a news conference in Accra, denied the allegation and stated that the deceased died o diarrhoea and vomiting within 24 hours of admission at the hospital.