A medical doctor and sister of deceased engineer Charles Henry Amissah has filed a GH¢20 million lawsuit against three major health facilities, several healthcare professionals and the Attorney General over what she describes as negligent acts that led to her brother’s death following a road accident in Accra.
Matilda Amissah, who is suing as administratrix of the estate of Charles Henry Amissah, filed the suit at the High Court in Accra over the February 2026 incident that sparked renewed national debate over Ghana’s persistent “No Bed Syndrome.”
The defendants in the suit include the Ghana Police Hospital, Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, several doctors and nurses attached to the facilities, as well as the Attorney General’s Department.
According to the statement of claim, the 29-year-old engineer, who worked with Promasidor Ghana Limited, was involved in a hit-and-run accident on the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Overpass at about 10:30 p.m. on February 6, 2026.
The suit states that after he failed to return home, family members reported him missing at the Adentan Police Station. Four days later, officers at the Nima Police Station allegedly informed the family that an accident victim had been deposited at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
Dr. Amissah told the court that when the family arrived at the hospital mortuary, they found the body in a decomposing state outside the cold room and infested with maggots.
The writ alleges that the National Ambulance Service initially transported the injured engineer to the Police Hospital after receiving a distress call, but staff at the facility allegedly informed ambulance personnel that there was no available bed space.
According to the suit, ambulance personnel pleaded with medical staff to at least administer first aid because the victim was bleeding heavily, but no emergency stabilisation was provided.
The plaintiff further alleges that the patient was then transferred to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital at Ridge, where urgent treatment was again allegedly declined because of unavailable beds.
Court documents state that the ambulance later proceeded to Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, where medical personnel also allegedly refused immediate treatment despite appeals from ambulance staff to provide care while the patient remained on the stretcher.
The suit claims Charles Henry Amissah suffered cardiac arrest at about 12:50 a.m. and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards at Korle-Bu.
Dr. Amissah argues that her brother remained alive for more than two hours while being transported between hospitals and could have survived had emergency interventions been administered promptly.
According to the post-mortem findings cited in the suit, the deceased suffered deep lacerations to the right upper arm, severe blood loss, fractures and trauma-related complications resulting from exsanguination.
The plaintiff is accusing the hospitals and healthcare workers of negligence, including failure to provide emergency triage, failure to stabilise the patient, failure to conduct vital assessments and failure to prioritise urgent care despite the severity of his condition.
She further alleges that the handling of the body after death caused additional emotional trauma to the family because the level of decomposition prevented the body from being laid in state during funeral rites.
The suit follows investigations by a government-appointed committee chaired by Agyeman Badu Akosa, which examined the circumstances surrounding the engineer’s death.
The committee reportedly concluded that failures by medical personnel at all three hospitals contributed to the death and that timely emergency interventions could have saved him.
Its report cited serious lapses in emergency response procedures, weak institutional coordination and failures by clinicians to provide immediate life-saving care despite the patient arriving alive at all three facilities.
The committee also recommended disciplinary action against several healthcare professionals named in the suit and proposed broader reforms to Ghana’s emergency healthcare system.
Dr. Amissah maintains that the actions of the defendants caused severe emotional and financial hardship to the family, especially because the deceased had become the primary support for their mother following the death of their father in 2019.
The defendants have been given eight days after service of the writ to enter appearance or risk judgment being entered against them in default.
Source: Wesleyannews.com
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