Ghana’s health system is in serious trouble because officials and the public ignored repeated warnings about deep problems in healthcare delivery, according to health policy expert Dr. Kwame Asiedu Sarpong. He said the crisis goes well beyond a shortage of hospital beds and reflects systemic failures that have been flagged in reports for years without meaningful action.
Speaking on local radio, Dr. Sarpong, a research fellow at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), said repeated studies and assessments, including the 2023 Health Harmonisation Assessment Report, clearly showed the health system was struggling long before recent tragedies drew public attention. He criticised political and health authorities for diagnosing problems but failing to tackle them.
Dr. Sarpong stressed that the crisis extends far beyond so-called “no-bed syndrome.” He said the problems are rooted in poor resource allocation, weak emergency care systems, insufficient medical expertise at many facilities, and a lack of critical tools and coordination. According to him, some facilities might have physical beds but lack the right equipment or specialists to treat patients effectively, making real bed capacity much smaller than it appears.
The expert also highlighted the absence of a centralised system to track hospital bed availability, which he has urged authorities to implement for years. Such a system, he said, could help emergency responders and families know where care is available instead of driving from hospital to hospital only to be turned away.
Recent public outrage — triggered by reports of patients turned away from multiple hospitals and suffering dire outcomes — underscores the consequences of long-term neglect, Dr. Sarpong added. He urged political leaders, policymakers and health administrators to focus on structural reform instead of reacting only when tragedy strikes.
