The lives of patients requiring emergency transportation from one health facility to the other in the Western Region are in danger as the only ambulance serving the region has been involved in an accident.
Stakeholders fear the situation could negatively affect healthcare delivery in the region if immediate steps are not taken to provide ambulances in health facilities in the area.
Ten ambulances supplied to the National Ambulance Service in the region in 2012 broke down within a period of five years due to the deplorable nature of the roads in the area.Prior to that the region had one ambulance.
The last ambulance for the health facilities in the region was however involved in a fatal accident at Beahu in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region on January 26, killing four persons.
Police said the driver of the ambulance with registration number GV 1453-14 knocked down a pedestrian while overtaking some vehicles and rammed into an oncoming truck with registration number GT 7348-15.
READ: Gory! Four killed as ambulance crashes with truck in W/R
The ambulance was mangled beyond repairs.
Regional Coordinator of the National Ambulance Service, Dr. Tawiah Siameh has told Takoradi-based Connect FM the current situation of no ambulance in the region was critical and unsafe.
He expressed worry over government’s inability to replace and or maintain the ambulances in the region, and underscored the need to prioritise ambulance facilities in the health sector.
Dr. Siameh has meanwhile called on the Western Regional minister Dr. Kwaku Afriyie and the MMDCEs in the region to meet with the regional coordinating ambulance service to deliberate on how best the health sector can be responsive to emergency healthcare delivery.
By Loveridge Ampratwum Okyere|3news.com|Ghana