10-day-old baby dies during circumcision, KNUST Hospital accused of negligence

The bereaved parents are Mohammed Jamal, 36, who is a private security officer and Halimatu Adams, 27, a fashion designer. On April 3, they took their son to the KNUST Hospital for a male circumcision but had to face the difficult situation of having to return home without their newborn baby had been full of life.

“The baby was 10 days old so we decided to send him to hospital for circumcision. Whilst at the hospital, they showed us the theatre. We met a nurse who examined the baby, undressed him and took off his diapers and told us everything was okay,” Mr Jamal recounted to JoyNews.

10-day-old baby dies during male circumcision, KNUST Hospital accused of negligence Pulse Ghana

While waiting patiently to have their son back and return home with him, the couple heard a loud cry of the baby and it ceased. At that point, they became alarmed that something must have gone wrong. Some staff of the hospital approached to communicate with the couple but there were inconsistencies in their communication, which left them restless.

“I became restless a few minutes later. A woman who spoke to me in Hausa tried to calm me down but it was impossible. I felt like attending nature’s call,” myjoyonline.com quotes Halimatu as recalling.

Not long after, Jamal and Halimatu were asked to get a hospital attendance card to prepare for the baby's admission. Then an ambulance was brought in a few minutes later to transport him to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for further treatment.

Realising that the bad news would have to be broken to the young couple, a doctor finally tried to psyche them up for it.

“I didn’t allow the doctor to finish what he was saying…I told him I think my child was dead…I felt something bad had happened to my son,” Halimatu said.

Since the death of Faraj, his parents have not known joy as the loss of their only male child has taken a toll on them psychologically.

“The feeling or the pain that you go through; unless you experience it because it’s something you cannot even express. The psychological pains, the trauma that you go through in the night when you hear the cry of the baby. Any night, when you hear the cry of the child, you can’t do anything. You can’t focus,” Jamal lamented.

10-day-old baby dies during male circumcision, KNUST Hospital accused of negligence Pulse Ghana

The University Relations Officer is reported as saying that the matter has been referred to the hospital’s legal department for resolution. The KNUST Hospital is reported as saying that the baby suffered a cardiac attack during the circumcision procedure.

Meanwhile, Advocacy for Medical Malpractice Victims, a patient-centred non-governmental group has taken up the matter to get justice for the bereaved couple.

Kwame Brobbey Appiah, the Executive Secretary of the organization believes the KNUST Hospital must have been negligent, which led to the death of Faraj.

“From all indications, the hospital was negligent in the conduct of the circumcision. We believe strongly that we would be happy to establish a prima facie case,” he said.

This particular case is not an isolated one; it appears to be a nationwide phenomenon that even the Ministry of Health is worried about.

Speaking recently at this year’s senior managers meeting of the Ghana Health Service in Kumasi, the sector minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu bemoaned they have been receiving how legal suits emanating from alleged medical negligence almost every week.

“What I am seeing of late at the ministry is the issue of litigation. For the past four weeks or so, almost every week, we get at least one letter from the Attorney-General’s office. Somebody has sued somebody with problems with care, service delivery and they want us to come with information to go to court with,” the minister revealed.

Just a couple of weeks ago, a woman died after the Central Aflao Hospital in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region declined to treat her because her son did not have cash and offered to pay with Mobile Money.

The Ghana Health Service and the Medical and Dental Council are investigating the matter.