An Africa Eye undercover investigation has revealed that some staff at the Ridge Hospital in Accra, Ghana have been selling vital PPE for personal profit.
As the pandemic reached Ghana, the country faced a severe lack of essential protective equipment like face shields, masks and suits.
As the Ghanaian government pushed hospitals to gather as much PPE as they could, the country rallied round to help. Donors provided thousands of items for frontline medical staff fighting the virus.
Yet, despite these efforts, over 2000 health officials have been infected by Covid-19, with a lack of adequate PPE often cited as one of the causes.
At the height of the crisis, reporter Anas Aremeyaw Anas received multiple reports that some staff at Ghana’s biggest hospital were cashing in on the crisis by secretly selling PPE.
Going undercover, Anas and his team purchased multiple items of potentially life-saving PPE from some hospital staff members, items that could have been the difference between life and death for colleagues working directly with Coronavirus patients.
Following an internal investigation, the staff in question were suspended by the Ridge hospital for privately selling PPE in breach of hospital rules.
They are Thomas Osei, Medicine Counter Assistant, and Divine Kumordzi of the Sewing Unit of the hospital.
A statement from the management of the hospital said even though the items did not belong to the hospital and did not also constitute the hospital’s COVID-19 stock, either donated or procured, their action constituted a breach of the Ghana Health Service Code of Conduct.
“As a hospital, we do not encourage this behaviour since it may adversely affect their output and also be misconstrued by the public as items of the facility,” the statement said.
But questions remain. How much of more Ghana’s vital PPE has gone missing? And how many lives could it have saved?
Watch the documentary below:
Source: Daily Mail GH
Email Daily Mail GH: stories@dailymailgh.com or
Whatsapp: +233(0)509928122
