The government has begun piloting a national emergency bed management system aimed at addressing Ghana’s persistent “no bed syndrome” in hospitals.
Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh disclosed this on Joy News’ PM Express, explaining that the system will provide real-time information on bed availability and the number of patients occupying emergency units.
According to the Minister, a central command centre has been established at the Ridge Hospital to coordinate the pilot programme.
“Regarding the bed management system, we have started the pilot. We have the command centre at Ridge Hospital,” he said.
Mr Akandoh said the system will enable health authorities to monitor bed availability across participating hospitals remotely.
“I have a screen in my office, so that if Korle-Bu says there’s no bed, I’m able to see how many beds are available, how many patients are in the emergency,” he explained.
The pilot currently covers selected regional and teaching hospitals, with participating facilities required to provide regular updates on their available beds and emergency occupancy.
The system will also monitor how long patients remain in emergency units. Mr Akandoh said this would enable authorities to investigate cases where patients remain in emergency wards for extended periods despite hospitals reporting a shortage of beds.
“If you’ve been there for more than 24 hours, and they see you are still there, and they say there is no bed. I will be able to ask questions because there’s a whole command centre in charge of that,” he said.
The Minister stressed that the initiative is not designed to create additional hospital beds but to improve the utilisation and management of existing capacity.
“So this system will not necessarily add more beds, but it will help us to manage the scarce resources, so that one patient will not be on one bed at emergency for more hours than another,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government is expanding emergency capacity at some of the country’s major hospitals, including Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Tamale Teaching Hospital and the 37 Military Hospital.
At Korle-Bu, Mr Akandoh said the emergency unit currently has about 67 beds, compared with more than 1,000 beds across the hospital.
He also disclosed that construction is underway on a new 400-bed facility as part of a broader redevelopment project at the hospital.
“The contractor is on site as I speak to you now. So we call it a hospital within a hospital,” he said.
Mr Akandoh said participating teaching and regional hospitals have already been integrated into the bed management system.
He explained that hospital beds have been fitted with barcodes, while designated commanders at each facility are responsible for updating information on bed availability and occupancy.
“Yes, the beds have barcodes, and there are commanders at each facility to be putting the data in at every moment,” he said.
The ambulance service has also been integrated into the system to help emergency authorities determine the most appropriate facility to which patients should be transported.
The Minister said more than 200 government ambulances are currently operational following the government’s decision to insure its ambulance fleet in 2025.
He added that plans are in place to acquire an additional 100 ambulances in 2027 as part of efforts to replenish the fleet.
“We are going to add 100 brand-new vehicles,” he said.
