The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital has responded to a viral video in which a woman blames the hospital for the death of her 27-year-old nephew.
The woman cites a number of reasons in the video, including the lack of a bed to admit her nephew, as reasons for his death.
Korle-Bu Hospital however made it clear in a statement that “at the time the said patient was brought to the A&E, the centre was full beyond its capacity and an arrangement was being made to create space for the patient”.
The hospital further stated that it cannot be held liable for the patient’s death, because “he was brought in dead (BID)”.
“All patients brought in dead are examined before being declared dead. In this case, the medical officer on duty went into the car to examine the patient and found that the pupils were dilated and fixed,” it said.
“From the professional judgement of the staff on duty, this was sufficient indication that the patient had passed [before] examining the patient.”
Below is the statement from the hospital.
SUBJECT: RE: NO AMBULANCE, NO BED, NO SANITIZERS AT KORLE-BU EMERGENCY ROOM
An investigation has been conducted by the public relations unit in relation to a YouTube video circulating on social media. This link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjL-Q9VvP20) involves a lady lamenting the treatment which led to the death of her 27-year-old nephew.
The issues raised in the video are as follows:
The woman says there was no ambulance to take her nephew from home to the hospital.
She also points out the unavailability of hand sanitisers at the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Centre for her use.
She said there was no bed to admit her nephew. She said the doctor did not follow protocols to declare her nephew’s death.
From the investigations conducted by the PR unit at the A&E Centre, the following were the responses given to the issues raised by the complainant in the video.
The ambulance issue does not fall within the purview of the hospital and Korle-Bu therefore could not be blamed for the unavailability of an ambulance to convey the patient to the hospital.
On the issue of unavailability of hand sanitisers, our investigations established that a handwashing stand with soap and tissue paper has been provided for the use of visitors at the Emergency Centre. The handwashing facilities are hygienically superior to the hand sanitisers that the complainant was looking for.
As a Hospital, we try as much as possible not to turn any patient away. However, at the time the said patient was brought to the A&E, the Centre was full beyond its capacity and arrangement was being made to create space for the patient.
The nephew was brought in dead (BID). All patients brought in dead are examined before being declared dead. In this case, the medical officer on duty went into the car to examine the patient and found that the pupils were dilated and fixed. From the professional judgement of the staff on duty, this was sufficient indication that the patient had passed [before the examination of] the patient.
From our investigations, the issues raised by the complainant border more on the emotional display of the loss of her nephew than the reality of it.
However, staff members must … exercise greater circumspection in dealing with patients’ relatives who come with emergencies.
