Dead bodies litter Kumasi South Hospital due to lack of a mortuary

The absence of a mortuary is negatively impacting healthcare delivery at the Kumasi South Hospital in the Asokwa Municipality of Ashanti Region.

Bodies of dead persons are left on floors, balconies and verandas until bereaved families show up to collect them.

Resident Medical Director, Dr. Kwame Ofori Boadu, wants the trend to change.

“As we take care of patients, it is inevitable that some may die but because we don’t have a mortuary, we immediately release the bodies to the family without conducting any investigations into the cause of death.

“The police normally do not prefer that since they want investigations conducted into the cause of death at the same venue the death occurred,” he told Luv FM’s Emmanuel Adu Gyamfi.

The Kumasi South Hospital is one of the satellite health facilities upgraded to the status of a hospital, to augment the efforts of the Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

More than a decade since the elevation of the hospital, it has no hearse to transfer corpses to the morgue.

Deceased relatives have often resorted to taxis and other unapproved means, to transport their dead from the hospital to designated places.

Despite the challenges, Member of Parliament for the Asokwa constituency has urged staff of the hospital to work diligently.

Madam Patricia Appiagyei says the staff of the hospital should not seek to be transferred to places of improved conditions.

According to her, the policy of rotating hospital staff from places of improved conditions and bad conditions only goes to enrich their work experience and makes them better at their jobs.