President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, has expressed worry over power outages in health facilities.
According to her, such incidents could have disastrous consequences and, hence should not happen.
“It is a problem we are all experiencing but to have facilities such as hospitals have power outages to the extent that it causes the loss of life is something that should never happen,” she said on TV3.
Her comments come in the wake of the alleged death of a three-day-old baby at the Tema General Hospital on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
Rashida Abubakar Tetteh, the 24-year-old mother of the deceased baby, disclosed that she was informed by a doctor that her son could not survive due to the non-functioning medical equipment during the power outage.
“I went to visit my son, but I didn’t see him. I was waiting outside when one doctor came to inform me that they were sorry, but due to the lights out, my child could not survive because the incubator was not working. The lights went off on Tuesday evening. No staff has spoken to me, and they haven’t said anything to me,” she narrated.
However, the hospital in a statement signed by the Medical Director Dr. Richard Anthony, dated March 27, 2024, refuted claims that lives were lost as a result of the power outage.
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It clarified that, the incident occurred when power from the national grid was interrupted, and the facility had to rely on its power plant.
The management noted that, the dedicated generator set for the NICU tripped off for a short period, but the hospital’s electricians worked to restore power to the unit until the national grid was back online.
“It is worth noting that no lives were lost as a result of this power outage,” the statement said.