The Ministry of Health (MoH) has dismissed reports of a nationwide shortage of hospital beds, stating that available data shows many health facilities still have unused bed capacity.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah said hospital bed occupancy across the country is currently around 60 per cent, meaning a significant number of beds remain available.
She made the remarks during an appearance before Parliament’s Economy and Development Committee.
According to her, the real problem is not a lack of hospital beds but the absence of an effective bed management system that can monitor and coordinate available spaces across health facilities.
Dr Ayensu-Danquah explained that a real-time system showing bed availability would enable emergency responders to quickly identify hospitals with space and direct patients there without delay.
“If we have more beds, why are we having no-bed syndrome? I believe the occupancy rate is 60%. So with 100 beds in a hospital, 60 of them are occupied; 40 are open. So now why does somebody come and have a no-bed syndrome?” she asked.
She said a modern tracking system should provide live updates on available beds in different departments, including intensive care units (ICUs), maternity wards and orthopaedic units.
Such a system, she noted, would help ambulance services make informed decisions while transporting patients.
“We believe that if we have a proper management system that tells you that, for instance, in real time, Ridge Hospital has one ICU bed, two maternal beds and one orthopaedic bed, when the ambulance is coming, we can know where to take the patient,” she said.
Dr Ayensu-Danquah maintained that the Ministry’s data confirms that hospital beds are available in many facilities.
However, she said poor coordination and the lack of timely information often result in patients being told there are no beds.
She stressed that strengthening hospital bed management systems will improve patient admissions, reduce delays in accessing healthcare, and help eliminate the persistent complaints about the so-called “no-bed syndrome.”
