Wanderlust Ghana member, Kwabena Peprah has shared his personal experience with the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC), offering a positive account of the care his late mother received during her nearly three-week admission at the facility.

His reflection comes amid broader concerns about medical malpractice and accountability in Ghana’s healthcare sector.

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE IN GHANA

I haven’t taken time to review how many medical malpractice suits have been successful in Ghana but it’s trite that many relations who have lost their loved ones have had cause to blame the employees of one medical institution or the other. The UGMC has had its share of blame in the past.

When it became public that my mother had been admitted to the UGMC, a few friends suggested that I move her to another hospital which they felt came highly recommended. There’s a reason why I didn’t.

You see, from the emergency room, through all the departments including surgical, to the cold room, her almost three week stay at the hospital was seamless. Every single condition, test and subsequent procedure was painstakingly explained to us together with the way forward and potential outcomes. These professional communication channels gave us the assurance that everything that could be done was being done in the best way possible.

We still lost her but we did, knowing that no one was to blame. Of course, in grief, it’s always possible for the shoulda, coulda, woulda convo to happen but the processes outlined earlier made us come to terms with the eventual outcome regardless of how unpalatable it was.

You know me and my big mouth. If they had done nyaaa like I’d say it so if they didn’t, the least I can do it to praise them for what we all saw them do.

I’d like to thank Drs. Adams, Azumah, Seidu, Avril, all the nurses and other supporting staff at the UGMC who made our experience smooth. We know that you work in challenging circumstances and so appreciate your output even more. It is also very obvious that your parents paid the SCHOOL FEES when they had to.

God bless you all.

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