The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has reported a significant escalation in lawsuits against health facilities across the nation, with a marked rise from 40 in 2023 to 44 in 2024, and to 89 in 2025. This trend represents a substantial and growing challenge to the stability and confidence in the country’s healthcare system.
Speaking at the opening of a week-long Structured Legal Education Programme for Legal Officers in Accra, Deputy Director-General of the GHS, Dr. Caroline Reindorf-Amissah, highlighted the concern, stating that this increase threatens not only public funds but also public confidence in the health system. The program aims to establish standardized guidelines for managing medicolegal incidents, covering crucial aspects such as notification protocols, record security, Attorney-General’s office engagement, and settlement authorization processes.
At the heart of this challenge lies the death of Charles Amissah in February this year, following a road accident. His family has filed a GH¢20 million damages suit against three hospitals, several health professionals, and the Attorney-General, underscoring the gravity of the situation. A government-appointed committee has also identified serious lapses in emergency response and patient management at these facilities, leading to substantial concerns.
The current legal exposure from claims and demands totals an estimated GH¢400 million, funds that could otherwise be allocated to medicines, equipment, infrastructure, and enhanced patient care. The GHS’s analysis reveals that the current legal framework is insufficient to address the scale of the problem.
Dr. Reindorf-Amissah emphasized that lawsuits are a symptom, not the root cause, of the issue. Most claims are traced back to preventable upstream failures – incomplete medical records, inadequate informed consent, procedural shortcuts in staff discipline, poorly documented contracts, and unresolved complaints. The program will focus on strengthening medical documentation, ensuring genuine informed consent, protecting patient rights, enforcing due process, and streamlining cooperation with the Attorney-General’s Office, particularly regarding the timely issuance of suits against the state.
“We must never allow ourselves to become so accustomed to the language of litigation that we forget the people behind the cases,” Dr. Reindorf-Amissah asserted. The program will prioritize five key areas: strengthening medical documentation, ensuring genuine informed consent and patient rights, enforcing due process in staff disciplinary proceedings, bolstering cooperation with the Attorney-General’s Office, and shifting from reactive to preventive lawyering through the embedding of legal officers directly into regional and facility-level decision-making.
“In our final session, all of us together, will develop guidelines on medical, legal incidents and cases.” Mr. Dasah explained, highlighting the service’s restructuring to better serve the needs of the region. He underscored that the country has been zoned into five to deploy legal officers more widely, drawing on over 30 qualified lawyers currently serving within the service, with a longer-term goal of legal representation in every region. This strategic shift is designed to ensure that legal services are decentralized, closer to the facilities they serve, thereby providing timely advice and support to healthcare providers.”
This initiative represents a significant shift in the GHS’s approach to healthcare delivery, emphasizing a move towards proactive legal oversight and safeguarding patient rights. The emphasis on preventative measures and closer collaboration with regional authorities underscores a renewed commitment to ensuring patient safety and accountability within the health system.
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Source: Graphic Online
