Chief Executive Officer of Health Facility Regulatory Agency (HeFRA), Dr. Winfred Korletey Baah has commenced investigations into the circumstances surrounding alleged breaches of duty of care at Ridge Hospital.
Chief Executive Officer of HeFRA, Dr. Winfred Korletey, says the investigation will take a holistic approach to establish what happened, who may have been at fault, and whether there were systemic failures.
Speaking to Isaac Addae on Morning Starr, Dr. Korletey said HeFRA does not limit its investigations to individuals because there could also be failures within the system.
“These things come up. We do investigations. Even if it’s an individual, there may also be a system failure, and so we do a holistic investigation, and then we find out who and who is at fault,” he said.
Dr. Korletey said HeFRA has already engaged the CEO of Ridge Hospital over the matter, with the facility expected to submit a report to the regulator.
“And I’ve talked to the CEO for Ridge Hospital… We have started investigations. And they will send a report to us very soon,” he stated.
He stressed that HeFRA will be careful not to label individuals as negligent, explaining that medical negligence is a technical term that is ultimately determined by a court.
“All those who are found to have breached their duty of care… I’m not using negligence. To have breached their duty of care, we are going to sanction them,” he said.
According to him, where investigations establish that a doctor breached their duty of care, the matter will be referred to the Medical and Dental Council for disciplinary action.
“If we see that there’s a doctor who has been found to have caused some breach of duty, we will refer them to the Medical and Dental Council who will deal with them,” he said.
He added that nurses found to have breached their duty of care will similarly be referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council for disciplinary proceedings.
Dr. Korletey said HeFRA will also examine the facility itself where systemic lapses are identified.
“And the facility too, if there are systemic lapses, we will sanction the facility,” he said.
He explained that the purpose of the investigation is not only to identify those at fault but also to use each case as an opportunity to improve the healthcare system.
“We try to every case that comes, we take it as an opportunity to improve the system,” he said.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/Pamela Quayson
