Your Public Outburst At Dr. Akwulpwa, Tamale Hospital Neurologist, Is ‘Demeaning And Inappropriate’ – Minority To Mintah Akandoh
The Minority Health Caucus in Parliament has demanded an unqualified apology from the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, to a medical officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital named Dr Valentine Akwulpwa.
In the course of an unannounced visit to the Tamale Teaching Hospital, the minister publicly confronted Dr Valentine Akwulpwa, a neurologist, while addressing some challenges at the hospital that he (Mintah Akandoh) had discovered upon his visit.
The challenges mainly bordered on the facility’s deplorable state of equipment and infrastructure.
Among the critical equipment at the hospital found to be non-functional were ventilators, diagnostic and sterilisation machinery, and MRI scanning systems which reportedly had led to the death of a patient.
The minister interrogated the Chief Executive Officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Dr Adam Atiku, and Dr Valentine Akwulpwa over the circumstances surrounding the demise of the patient and other related issues but Dr Akwulpwa exchanged words with the minister which didn’t sit well with the latter.
The minister castigated Dr Akwulpwa publicly, casting aspersions on the medical officer’s integrity.
The Minority Health Caucus has issued a press release condemning the minister’s action.
Describing Dr Valentine Akwulpwa as a “highly respected neurologist, widely believed to be
the only one serving the entire Northern Region, and possibly one of fewer than four across the Northern and Upper Regions”, they found it highly inappropriate for the minister to have subjected the health officer to such harsh treatment in the full glare of the media.
“Dr. Akwulpwa has served the people of Northern Ghana with dedication since completing medical school. Rather than engaging in a private and professional dialogue, the Minister chose to interrogate him over the circumstances surrounding the recent death of a patient—right in the
presence of the public and the media.
“This conduct was not only disrespectful to Dr. Akwulpwa, but also profoundly inconsiderate to the family of the deceased. Matters of mortality and clinical accountability must be handled with the utmost sensitivity and confidentiality”, the Minority said.
They further slammed Mintah Akandoh, stating “the Minister’s public outburst was demeaning, inappropriate, and a breach of the decorum that must govern professional interactions in healthcare. Every well-meaning medical practitioner would rightly view this as a collective affront—not just to Dr. Akwulpwa, but to the dignity of the entire medical profession”.
“The Minister’s public berating of Dr. Akwulpwa, and the implicit disregard for his long-standing service to an under-resourced region, sends a chilling message to medical professionals across the country. It suggests a climate where frontline health workers can be publicly humiliated without cause, and where emotional, populist grandstanding takes precedence over principled and lawful conduct.
“We affirm, without reservation, that mortality review and clinical accountability must always be done with sensitivity, privacy, and respect for professional decorum—and not as a political spectacle”, they added.
The Minority Health Caucus therefore requests “the Minister to formally apologise to Dr. Valentine Akwulpwa and the staff of the Tamale Teaching Hospital for the unprofessional manner in which the visit and subsequent discussions were conducted”.
Source: Ghmessenger.com
