Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has said Ghana must enact an emergency care law to address recurring cases of patients being denied treatment due to lack of hospital beds.
Speaking in Parliament on February 24, Speaker Bagbin directed the Health Committee to thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding recent incidents linked to the so-called “no-bed syndrome,” including the death of 29-year-old Charles Amissah.
“I’ll direct our committee on health to take all the reports that will come from the ministry, the Korle Bu hospital or wherever and go deeply into it.”
He stressed the need for accountability and decisive legislative action.
“We have to take control. We need to inquire further into the matter and we need to hold people accountable,” he said.
Describing the development as deeply troubling, the Speaker expressed the need to push for a reform.
“This is one of the needless deaths we have experienced in this country. At the end of the day, I will urge the house for us to legislate on the matter. We need to pass an emergency care law on this matter.”
Alban Bagbin urged the leadership of the Health Committee to work decisively in addressing the issue.
“At the end of the day, the minister responsible for health together with the committee will have to come before this house. Then we can take that opportunity to legislate on the matter and try to bring finality to these needless deaths in the country.”
His remarks follow the death of Charles Amissah, a 29-year-old engineer at Promasidor Ghana Limited, whose passing in February 2026 has sparked nationwide debate about Ghana’s emergency healthcare system.
On February 6, 2026, Charles Amissah was involved in a hit-and-run accident at the Nkrumah Circle Overpass in Accra while riding a motorcycle home from work.
Although he was stabilized by National Ambulance Service technicians, he was reportedly transported between the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge), the Police Hospital, and the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for over nearly three hours, with each allegedly unable to admit him due to a lack of beds.
He later suffered a cardiac arrest and died at Korle Bu while still in the ambulance, prompting renewed calls for reforms to ensure emergency patients are not denied timely care.
