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Michael Kosi Dedey, an Engineer and Policy Analyst, has said the management system of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge) needs to be questioned.
According to the Policy Analyst, the Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the visit to Ridge Hospital following the assault was needless.
He noted that the Ridge Hospital management should handle the issue with the minister, only providing leadership through policy direction, not personal interventions in incidents.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Michael Kosi Dedey stated, “What is the minister going to do there? The Minister hasn’t gotten a duty for the day? The hospital authorities should have been able to take care of that situation. For me, again, it points to weak systems.
“Where it takes a minister to go into the hospital to go and do what? These are questions that we need to ask about management systems. That minister should be sitting in his office to assess what has gone wrong.
He added, “Why couldn’t the hospital authorities control [the situation]? He should be looking at policies and guidelines to support the hospitals instead of looking for possible control opportunities.
“This is not leadership. The same minister has been going around fighting the Chief Executives of hospitals. Clearly and consistently, the minister has demonstrated these inefficiencies,” he stated.
His comments come after the Ridge Hospital was thrown into confusion after a self-styled social activist, identified as Ralph St. Williams, stormed the emergency ward and filmed staff while accusing them of delaying treatment for his patient.
In a video that has since gone viral, Ralph is seen with blood on his hands, shouting at doctors and nurses for allegedly ignoring an accident victim he brought in. The footage, which also showed critically ill patients receiving treatment, has sparked concerns about patient privacy and hospital protocols.
According to Ralph, he had waited for over an hour without his ward being attended to. His actions, however, escalated into a heated confrontation, with witnesses reporting that a nurse was assaulted in the process. The hospital later confirmed that the Ghana Police Service had to be called in to restore order.
Additionally, a statement signed by Juliana Hariwa, Head of Public Relations, Ridge Hospital, explained that the incident happened during a period when clinicians were handling multiple emergencies at once. The statement said the activist, together with relatives of the patient, “invaded the emergency triage” in large numbers, disrupting service and creating unnecessary tension.
In addition, the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has given the government a 48-hour ultimatum to arrest Ralph Saint Williams and others who assaulted a nurse at Ridge Hospital.
According to GRNMA, the association will advise itself if immediate action is not taken.
Dr David Tenkorang Twum revealed that about eight men physically attacked the Ridge Hospital nurse, leaving her with injuries.
Speaking to the media, Dr David Tenkorang Twum stated, “If anybody can just walk into a facility, like Ridge Hospital, and throw his weight about, and beat like a midwife, and you have other party apparatchiks telling them to edge on, that is unfortunate. We are not happy at all. Our people are traumatised”.
He added, “We are very civilised people. We are professionals. And we are asking the government to arrest the guy immediately and the eight accomplices; we were told there were about 50 guys that day.
But those who laid their hands on the lady there were about eight, including Ralph himself. And therefore, if he’s not arrested within 48 hours, we shall advise ourselves.”
Dr David Tenkorang Twum added, “And we are all guided by law. In that, if you read section 119, subsection 1, it is stated that if you are a worker and you think that your safety is not guaranteed, your life and your health is not guaranteed, you have every right under the law to remove yourself from that danger.
And our people have told us this morning, after interacting with them, that they are not safe. They feel that their safety has been breached.”
In a separate interview, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Health Minister, has given a one-week ultimatum to a committee tasked with investigating the assault on nurses and health professionals at Ridge.
Speaking to Journalists after a meeting with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) on Tuesday, August 19, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh stated, “I was at the hospital yesterday and interacted with the health workers. One of the reasons I went there was to reassure them of our commitment and encourage them to return to the wards.
“They were demoralised, so I had to assure them of a thorough investigation. After my visit, we constituted a committee to investigate the matter within a week, after which the law will take its course,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Health Minister has revealed that some persons have been arrested in connection with the alleged assault of some nurses at the Ridge Hospital.
The Health Minister stressed that the issue is now being handled by the Ghana Police Service.
Speaking in an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen show, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh stated, “I can tell you that some arrests have been made. Anybody who says otherwise is not speaking the truth and is not ready to help solve the issue,” Mr Akandoh stressed.
The Health Minister, however, when asked if Ralph Saint Williams has also been arrested, stated, “We should leave the police to do their job. I won’t sit down for things to go wayward in my sector. No one is above the laws of this country”.
“The system is running, and as we speak, I’m getting updates. We are on course”, he added.