Old man ‘maltreated’ at Ankaful dies

James Egan, the 63-year-old patient who sustained several bruises and scratches on his hands and other parts of the body while on admission at the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital in the Central Region, has passed away.

The sad incident occurred two weeks ago and his family attributes the demise to the maltreatment he received in the hands of the Hospital’s staff, who were mostly nurses.

On June 6, 2019, Onua FM’s Yen Sempa broke the news about the case of the 63-year-old.

James Egan was discharged with several bruises and scratches on his hands and other parts of the body even though such was not the situation when he was admitted on May 1, 2019.

His family, who were dismayed by the bruises on his body, called on the authorities of the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital to investigate and bring the perpetrators to book.

Investigation!

Authorities at the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital launched a full-scale investigation into how James Egan sustained several bruises and scratches on his hands and other parts of the body.

The Director of the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital, Dr. Kojo Marfo Obeng, in an interview with Onua FM’s Yen Sempa on Friday June 7, 2019, stated, “We have identified the patient and we thank you [Onua FM] for bringing the issue to our attention…We have launched full investigations into the issue.”

“Our difficulty is to identify the perpetrator but we are still on it. We are processing those on duty that day.”

Ankaful hospital investigates staff brutality on 63-yr-old patient
Dr. Marfo Obeng admitted that the hospital’s report indicates that Mr. Egan had no such bruises when he was brought to the facility.

“We will do all we can to get to the bottom of the issue. Some wounds were documented on the man’s body but scratches were not in the documentation that is why we are saying it is early days in the investigations,” he said.

The daughter of late Eghan, Mrs. Helena Davis, on Tuesday explained that they blame the demise on the maltreatment meted out to him at the hospital.

She told host Bright Kwasi Asempa that what led to the demise of her father can be 80 per cent of the treatment he went through at the hospital.

“He was unable to talk. He did not get better from the hospital. He could not walk and he was on the bed all day even though he was talking and walking at the time of sending him to the hospital,” he explained.

Mrs. Davis revealed that “the hospital authorities visited my father without my knowledge. I don’t know who gave them the direction to the house”.

She said the father would be laid to rest by ending of October, 2019.