The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has announced a real-time electronic bed management system as part of strategic measures to tackle the perennial "no bed syndrome" in Ghana's hospitals.

The Minister made this known after his working visit to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge Hospital) where a pilot system was demonstrated.

According to the Minister, the challenge is not always a lack of beds but lack of visibility on available beds nationwide.

"There are instances where there will be empty beds elsewhere and they go to another facility and they say the place is full. It is just because we don't have visibility on the number of beds we have in the whole country," he explained.

He said he constituted a small committee to develop a centralized dashboard that will be mounted in his office and other command centres, showing in real-time the status of beds across facilities including how long a patient has spent in emergency.

"For example, if somebody goes there and they say there's no bed, I'll be able to confirm from these screens whether or not there are no beds, whether or not a patient has been at emergency for more than 24 hours," he said.

He clarified that the system will not physically add more beds but will ensure efficient management of existing ones.

"This will not necessarily add physical beds but it will help us to manage what we have," he stressed, describing claims to the contrary as propaganda.

The Minister emphasised that the digital system is just one of several interventions. 

Government is also working to open up the emergency centre at the 37 Military Hospital and expand emergency units at major teaching hospitals including Korle-Bu, Komfo Anokye, Ridge Hospital and Tamale Teaching Hospital.

"There are reforms, expansions, using technology and all that to be able to deal with it, to minimize it so that at least if anybody is in an emergency situation, the probability of surviving becomes very, very high," he stated.

On the scope of the pilot, Hon. Mintah Akando corrected the impression that the system has been piloted for a long time.

"I set up a small committee to look at this. This is the first time officially they are inviting me to come and see the work they have done," he said.

He confirmed that facilities currently on board the pilot are all teaching hospitals plus the Greater Accra Regional Hospital and the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC).

After successful piloting, the system will be rolled out to all regional hospitals and eventually to all district hospitals across the country.

He commended the technical team and said the Ministry will push for a rapid nationwide rollout after the initial test phase.