The Investigative Committee established to look into the Ridge hospital assault incident has presented its findings to Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh on Wednesday, August 27, 2025.
The incident which occurred on August 17, 2025, at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital’s Emergency Department (GARH) caused public outcry after viral video on social media.
The Health Minister subsequently set up the Committee to look into the matter.
Amongst its findings, the Committee revealed that there’s “extreme shortage” in nursing staff at the emergency ward of the hospital. The Committee’s report noted that for the whole month of August, a total of 7 medical officers and 2 specialists were available for duty at the emergency room permanently.
“Out of 88 Nursing staff who routinely work at the Emergency department every month, only 54 are currently at post with about 34 already vacated post without replacement. This has brought extreme shortage in the number of nursing staff at the emergency,” the report stated.
No Delay in Emergency Care
The committee confirmed that there was no delay in attending to the patient with a suspected head injury, who was the reason behind the agitation by Mr. Ralph Williams and the motorbike riders. This is contrary to claim by Ralph Williams and the riders for which the confrontation begun.
However, it found that all diagnostic imaging equipment (X-ray, CT scan, and MRI) at the Emergency Department were non-functional. As a result, tests had to be done outside the facility, causing delays in treatment and contributing to delay initiation of definitive care.
No video evidence of Physical Assault, But Verbal Altercation Recorded
The report says although there is video evidence of a verbal/word altercation between Ralph, his colleagues and staff members of the hospital, they have not yet received any video evidence or a witness account of the alleged physical altercation or attack.
However, documentation in the hospital health information management system indicates that the alleged victim, Ms. Rejoice Tsotso Bortei reported her injuries on the left hand on the next day,18th August 2025, and was further treated.
Her medical records confirm that there was no evidence of fracture to her left wrist or dislocation of her right shoulder joint as documented in her medical records. She was treated with pain relief, bed rest recommended and received psychological support from a psychologist.
Security Found to Be Inadequate
The committee founf that security at the Emergency Department was grossly inadequate at the time of the incident. The Committee said the hospital security arrangement of one private security personnel for 12-hour shift at the Emergency Department is inadequate, considering the volume and human traffic at the emergency.
A police post found on the premises is situated far away from the emergency department Adabraka Police Command is usually called upon to the Emergency Department to help restore calm and order when altercation such as the matter at hand occurs.
Emergency Department Overly Busy
The committee found that the number of staff on duty per shift in the hospital is woefully inadequate.
The number of medical officers in the months of August is one(1) per shift, thus three officers per day and one Emergency Specialist per day. Any other doctors visit the Emergency Department as a team on call per day-Trauma , medical, etc.
The Committee found that the emergency department of the hospital is an extremely busy place with a lot of human traffic/clients seeking care at a time, thus almost 100% bed occupancy all the time. It also receives most of the trauma and acute medical referrals across the Greater Accra region, including La, which has no health facility serving the community now.
Ralph St. Williams’ Response
Mr. Ralph St. Williams, the man at the center of the incident, initially agreed to a phone interview through his lawyer but later declined and instead submitted a written report and four video exhibits.
In his statement, he:
- Denied physically assaulting any staff or seeing others do so
- Admitted being provoked by comments made by a nurse
- Said his video recordings were aimed at highlighting delays, not targeting patients
- Provided Facebook Live footage as part of his evidence
Recommendation: The committee stemming from the finding proposed the following
Security and Surveillance
1. Improve security presence at the Emergency and Ambulance areas by adding at least one more security officer.
2. Ensure the Emergency Department (ED) gate is always manned by security personnel.
3. Expand CCTV coverage in and around the ED (unless privacy concerns prevent it) to improve monitoring and accountability.
4. Deploy police officers, especially during weekends and night shifts, to support private security at the ED.
Staffing
5. Recruit more clinical staff specifically dedicated to emergency care at GARH.
6. Hire additional administrative managers to serve as client service or customer care officers in the ED.
Diagnostic Equipment
Take steps to restore the capacity of the GARH to provide imaging services (X-ray, CT scan, MRI), since the lack of this equipment contributed significantly to the delay in providing care by the staff.
Health System Strengthening (Nationwide)
8. Build human resource capacity for comprehensive emergency care across the country.
9. Increase the number of secondary-level health facilities in every region.
10. Support health facilities to acquire affordable diagnostic equipment to reduce delays and dependence on referrals.
11. Promote continuous public engagement and education about the role and function of emergency departments.
12. Ensure all health professionals adhere strictly to established emergency care protocols.
