Widower accuses ambulance service of negligence,testifies before parliamentary committee
The husband of Augustina Awotwe, a 31-year-old mother who allegedly died from complications from cesarean section has accused the Ambulance Service of negligence.
Augustina died while being transported to Korle-Bu from the Western Region.
But testifying before a bipartisan parliamentary committee investigating the events leading up to his wife’s death, the widower, John Obiri Yeboah, accused the National Ambulance Service of negligence.
He recounted circumstances that led to the demise of his wife and stressed he is yet to be told the cause of his wife’s death.
According to him, no post-mortem was carried out on his wife before she was buried.
“They did not brief me on the condition of my wife. When the ambulance made a stop at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, no medical officer attended to us”, a teary Mr. Yeboah said.
He insists his wife was not pronounced dead by a medical doctor but by an ambulance paramedic.
“That same man sitting behind me in the ambulance told me my wife is dead. I was even expecting that if she is dead a medical somebody should be the one to tell me. But that same man told me that she couldn’t make it”, he continued.
Background
Agustina Awotwe, a 31-year-old mother, had been referred to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital after she developed complications from a cesarean section. She was referred by doctors at Holy Child Catholic Hospital at Fijai.
However, officials of the Ambulance Service demanded GHC600 from her husband to fuel the ambulance.
The husband’s failure to raise the amount on time led to the delay that eventually caused her death.
Parliamentary Committee
A six-member committee chaired by MP for Effiduase-Asokore, Dr. Ayew Afriyie was put together after a debate on a private members’ motion filed by four members of the minority.
The motion was filed by Juaboso MP and Ranking Member on the Health Committee; Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, Asawase MP; Mubarak Muntaka, Nabdam MP; Dr. Kurt Mark Nawaane, and Techiman North MP; Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare.
The motion, among other things, wants answers to the demand for payment by the ambulance operators from the Holy Child Catholic Hospital and its associated delays leading to her death.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has directed the Committee to submit its report to the plenary within five weeks.
Mr. Bagbin added that the handling of emergencies in the country ought to be reassessed. He added that the people will be supported by Parliament in such circumstances.