Story by: Konadu Benedicta
Governance Expert and Director General of the Internal Audit Agency, Dr. Eric Oduro Osae has asserted that Section 4 of the Law of the Ambulance Service does not mandate them to demand money from Ghanaians during an emergency.
According to him, the National Ambulance Service is under no obligation to demand money from patients in an emergency situation.
His assertion comes on the back of the service admitting that its officers demanded an amount before agreeing to transport a pregnant woman. The patient died whilst in transit due to the delay on the part of the officers of the service.
Speaking on GTV’s Breakfast Show, Dr. Oduro Osae stated, “Let’s draw the attention of Section 4 of their law, which says they should ensure the provision of timely emergency services for persons involved in accidents, disasters, and any other emergency. This is clearly provided for under section 4 of their constitution now. They have no business, they have no excuse telling Ghanaians to pay before I provide emergency services.”
The lawyer added that the ambulance service act mandates it to provide a 24-hour unrestricted service to the public.
“Under the Ambulance Service Act 2020, Act 1041, they are to provide 24-hour access, unrestricted access to ambulance service. And then section 26 of their law, which provides for firms to fund their operations, never mentioned that people should pay except that, they said parliament should give them money. They should receive a percentage of the money from the NHIC and money from the NHIA. They are supposed to generate funds Internally, it did not indicate that it should demand payment before the service is rendered. They are also to receive donations, money-derived investments on all of that. The bottom line is that you don’t charge somebody in an emergency. You make sure you render service and then, after that, the needful is done,” he said on Tuesday, July 19.
Dr. Oduro Osae urged the general public to expose people who take money before they render ambulance service.
“I think we should all be part of the solutions. What we need to do is to get, name, and shame those unscrupulous people. I think at the Internal Agency level. What we will do is that we will get our special investigation unit to go into this matter and get feedback,” he added.
