Frank Afriyie, the Member of Parliament for Afadjato South, has recounted being refused a hospital bed after he was rushed to a health facility.
According to the Afadjato South MP, medical staff only attended to him after his wife informed them he was an MP.
He argued that the “no-bed syndrome” is sometimes used in ways that discriminate against certain individuals.
The MP further debated that, beyond infrastructure challenges, discrimination by health professionals may be adding to public frustration with the healthcare system.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on February 24, 2026, Frank Afriyie narrated, “One dawn, I woke up to prepare for a television show and an unknown to me, I went blacked out. I was fortunate my son heard the extent to which I fell and moved from his room to come to our master bedroom, and he managed to wake my wife up. They lifted me to one of the foremost health facilities in this country.
“When we got there, my younger brother went in and drew their attention. They just told him, send him to another place. It took my wife to tell them that the man lying in there is an MP.
“Then the rush in came. So, the kernel of this issue sometimes is the discrimination by these professionals. And the discrimination they offer tends to make you and I, Speaker, be victims before the general public,” he narrated.
The MP also pointed to the overconcentration of health infrastructure in Accra as a major contributing factor to the pressure on facilities, adding that many cases from other regions are referred to major hospitals in the capital, like the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC), which leaves professionals overstrained.
Meanwhile, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, the Minority Leader in parliament, has said that if negligence is proven in the death of Charles Amissah, a hit-and-run victim who was denied emergency care by three hospitals in Accra, prosecution must follow.
The minority leader demanded a full parliamentary probe into the circumstances that led to the death of a hit-and-run victim.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Afenyo-Markin appealed to the Speaker of Parliament to direct the Health Committee to summon the management of three hospitals, namely, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the Police Hospital, and the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, to explain what occurred on the night of February 6, 2026.
According to Afenyo-Markin, the circumstances surrounding the death of Charles Amissah are too grave to be brushed aside, particularly when a life was lost under circumstances that raise troubling questions about Ghanaians access to emergency healthcare.
Afenyo-Markin on the floor of parliament stated, “Mr Speaker, with your directive, summon the Chief Executive Officers and the heads of the emergency units of the three hospitals involved. Demand the provision of duty rosters and bed occupancy records for that night.
“They should establish conclusively whether the 2018 Ghana Health Service directive was breached and finally determine whether professional misconduct or negligence occurred. If misconduct is established, sanctions must follow; if negligence is proven, prosecution must follow,” he stated.
The minority leader later turned attention to the individual who knocked down the victim and fled the scene, urging the Ghana Police Service to deploy every resource to bring the driver to justice.
“I call upon the Ghana Police Service to deploy every resource, investigative technique and intelligence capability at their disposal to track down and apprehend this individual,” he added.
Watch the video below:
@channel1tvgh Afadjato South MP Frank Afriyie recounts being refused a hospital bed after he was rushed to a health facility. He said medical staff only attended to him after his wife informed them he was an MP, arguing that the “no-bed syndrome” is sometimes used in ways that discriminate against certain individuals. Watch here: https://youtu.be/DtwS2AlM-ao #ChannelOneNews #NoBedSyndrome #GhanaNews #ChannelOneTV
♬ original sound – Channel One TV