Over the past few months, Ghana’s health sector has once again been thrust into the national spotlight.
From ongoing workforce distribution challenges to the picketing of trained professionals demanding employment, to patients receiving care on hospital floors.
But it was the tragic and preventable loss of a young man following a road traffic accident after reportedly being turned away from multiple hospitals that ignited public outrage.
The response has been familiar; public anger, media discourse, official statements.
The President has weighed in, emphasising that no patient should be turned away, even if care must be delivered under makeshift conditions.
And yet, this is not the first time. It is not even the second.
The cycle has become predictable: tragedy, outrage, blame, directives, and then silence. No sustained reform.
No structural change.
It has become so familiar to the point that we have given it a name: “No Bed Syndrome.”
But let us be clear, this is not a bed problem. It is a system failure.
The response and why it fails
The Ministry of Health, through its Accident and Emergency guidelines, states that no patient should be denied emergency care because of finance.
This aligns with global standards.
Through initiatives such as the WHO Global Initiative for Emergency and Essential Surgical Care, countries are encouraged to build systems that prioritise “stabilise first, refer later.”
The problem in Ghana is not the absence of policy.
The Ministry of Health Ghana has, to its credit, been responsive in the immediate aftermath of this incident, engaging with health facilities to understand the realities on the ground and providing additional beds to ease congestion.
However, these remain short-term fixes that will not address underlying systemic weaknesses.
Increasing beds alone is insufficient without improving patient flow and operational efficiency.
What we currently have is a system that absorbs pressure but fails to process it efficiently.
We have knee jerk responses from media outcries and political pressures by increasing bed numbers, yet patients still wait 24 hours for basic laboratory results.
Scans are limited to certain hours.
Emergency units remain congested not because beds alone are insufficient, but because patient flow is broken.
We have no structured workflows for overcrowded emergency units.
No alternative care pathways.
No surge protocols.
And in doing so, we place an unfair burden on frontline workers, expecting sacrifice in a system that does not adequately support them.
These are professionals already working under extreme conditions, often without sufficient resources, yet bearing the full weight of legal and moral responsibility.
Where the system breaks
The failures are clear: breakdown in prehospital care. Limited coordination and capacity within ambulance services delay critical early interventions.Poor inter-facility communication.
No real-time visibility of bed or resource availability.
As a result, tertiary centres are overburdened.
Facilities such as Korle Bu and 37 Military Hospital receive cases that should be managed at secondary level hospitals.
This is not a failure of individuals.
It is a failure of design.
What we need
Do we really want change?
The answer must be seen in our actions.
If the answer is no, then we can continue responding to crises with statements and short-term optics.
But if the answer is yes, then change requires something far more difficult. It requires long-term, systems-level thinking that outlives political transitions.
Strengthening prehospital services is non-negotiable.
Emergency care must be integrated into national financing and policy frameworks like the NSOAP, to ensure sustainable and measurable improvements in healthcare delivery.
A reliable emergency care system requires a coordinated, data-driven network of adequately equipped facilities working closely with frontline providers.
A collective moral responsibility
At its core, the call to strengthening emergency and critical care is not just a technical one, it is also a moral one.
No Ghanaian should die because the system could not respond in time.
Emergency and critical care should not be a luxury, it is essential, and it reflects how the nation values the lives of its citizens.
Every one of us has a role to play, from individuals, management, healthcare workers, private corporations, ministries and agencies.
We must be confident that every Ghanaian, irrespective of position and economic status, will have quality care offered in dignity when needed.
We call on the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons to consider deliberately integrating leadership and management training into residency programmes through partnership with business schools.
Medical schools can also explore similar options for students who may be interested.
Doctors who eventually end up in management positions in our hospitals must be equipped not only clinically, but also with the skills to effectively lead complex health institutions.
There is a clear opportunity for telcos to support emergency care by revamping national referral communication systems and developing a real-time bed management dashboard.
The Ministry of Health Ghana and the Ghana Health Service must collaborate with academic institutions and experts to redesign workflows.
The Ghana Health Service is called upon to institutionalise routine emergency audits.
The National Health Insurance Authority should expand coverage for emergency
care and ensure timely payments to support private sector participation.
The Health Facilities Regulatory Agency can support the categorisation of hospitals into tiers based on capacity and capability, helping to streamline referrals and ensure patients are directed to the right level of care.
Both Parliament and the Ministry of Health have signaled interest in emergency care legislation. Such laws must go beyond punitive measures.
Ghana needs a comprehensive Emergency Care Act with realistic benchmarks, clear timelines and dedicated financing, developed in consultation with key stakeholders.
Emergency care reform is not the responsibility of one institution. It is a coordinated effort across policy, financing, service delivery and accountability working together as a system.
The writer is Chair, International Student Surgical Network (InciSioN) Ghana and Global Surgery and Health Systems Advocate.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.