Ekow Essilfie: Ghana’s hospital crisis rooted in system collapse, not capacity

The unfolding crisis at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital is not merely a hospital-level problem but a reflection of deeper systemic failure within Ghana’s healthcare structure, broadcaster Ekow Essilfie has said.

Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on 24 March, Essilfie described the situation—where patients are treated on floors—as “a national failure in slow motion,” warning that the issue goes far beyond bed shortages.

“This is not about beds,” he stressed, echoing concerns raised by medical professionals. “You can bring a thousand beds into Korle Bu, and they will still be filled within days because the system beneath it is broken.”

Essilfie argued that Ghana’s referral system has effectively collapsed, functioning not as a coordinated network but as a one-directional pipeline that channels patients from lower-tier facilities to tertiary hospitals.

“District hospitals refer, regional hospitals refer, and everything ends up at Korle Bu,” he said. “It has become a catch-all survival centre instead of a specialised tertiary facility,” the host of the show added.

He pointed to critical gaps in emergency coordination, including the absence of a national bed-tracking system, weak ambulance coordination, and poor pre-hospital care.

“What we have is chaos dressed up as care,” he added, noting that patients often arrive without prior stabilisation or communication between facilities.

Essilfie also questioned the reliability of official assessments following high-level visits, suggesting that conditions observed by authorities may not reflect everyday realities.

“If a system only works when a minister is visiting, then it is not working—it is performing,” he said.

The broadcaster highlighted the ethical and legal pressures facing doctors, who are instructed not to turn patients away but remain legally accountable for outcomes even under constrained conditions.

“That makes doctors scapegoats of a broken structure,” he warned.

He further cautioned that overcrowding poses serious risks, including delayed treatment, increased infections, and staff burnout, describing the current situation as “unsustainable and unsafe.”

Essilfie called for urgent structural reforms, including enforcing referral protocols, investing in district-level care, deploying a national bed management system, and strengthening emergency services.

“Ghanaians are not asking for perfection,” he said. “They are asking for dignity, safety, and a healthcare system that works—even when no one is watching.”

He warned that the situation at Korle Bu should be treated as a national alarm.

“This is not an isolated incident. It is a warning—and if decisive action is not taken, the next patient on that floor could be any of us.”