Consultant Interventional Cardiologist Prof Nicholas Osei-Gyening OBE has identified cost and limited resources as some of the most pressing challenges confronting Ghana’s healthcare system, drawing comparisons with the United Kingdom.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on 23 February, Prof Osei-Gyening, who practices in Cardiff, Wales, said that although healthcare systems across the world face difficulties, access to timely treatment in Ghana is often determined by a patient’s ability to pay.
“I think all healthcare systems around the world, it doesn’t matter where they are, have got issues,” he said.
He explained that in the UK, emergency cardiac care is strictly time-bound and closely monitored.
“If a patient has a heart attack and you go to a UK hospital, from the time you get your heart attack to the time you get on somebody’s table to open your heart arteries, it’s actually measured. As a hospital, if you fail, in 90 minutes you’re meant to go from your chest pain to somebody’s table to have your arteries opened,” he stated.
However, he noted that the situation in Ghana is markedly different.
“In Ghana, if you have a heart attack and you go to any standard hospital here, some of the questions you’re asked are, ‘Can you pay for it?’ The type of treatment that you have depends on whether you can pay for it or not,” he said.
According to him, the absence of comprehensive health coverage presents a significant barrier to care.
“Because there is no national health, so to speak, where everything is taken care of, whether you end up on somebody’s table to be operated on depends on how much you can afford. So immediately, that’s a major issue,” he stressed.
He contrasted this with the UK system, where healthcare is free at the point of need.
“Your health in the UK is free at the point of need. Here, it’s not free at the point of need. It’s whether you can afford it or not. That’s an immediate, massive issue for, I dare say, the majority of people in Ghana. So cost is a major issue,” he emphasised.
Beyond affordability, Prof Osei-Gyening pointed to differences in infrastructure and specialist support.
“If I go to the lab where I work, there’s far more expertise in terms of the ancillary staff surrounding me. I’ve got very highly trained ancillary staff. That’s obviously not the case here,” he explained.
He clarified that Ghanaian health professionals are well trained, but levels of subspecialisation and backup systems differ.
“I’m not saying that the staff here are not trained — they are. But in terms of specialities, it’s really quite different. And the way to handle complications, in terms of who you call upon to back you up, is also not as good,” he added.
Despite the challenges, the veteran cardiologist said patient outcomes have largely been positive.
“Thankfully, the vast majority of operations that I’ve done here have been very successful,” he noted.
Profile of Professor Nicholas Ossei-Gerning
Professor Nicholas Ossei-Gerning OBE is a UK-based interventional cardiologist with more than 30 years’ experience in general and interventional cardiology, with specialist expertise in vasculogenic erectile dysfunction.
A consultant at the University Hospital of Wales and Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, he also practises privately at St Joseph’s Hospital in Newport/Cardiff. In Ghana, he played a leading role in establishing the Euracare Advanced Diagnostics and Heart Centre in Accra and remains a visiting professor. He notably travelled from the UK to perform an emergency cardiac intervention at the 37 Military Hospital in 2017.
An alumnus of Mfantsipim School, he trained at University College Hospital, London, earning his MBBS in 1990 and later an MD. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.
In 2024, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to interventional cardiology in the UK and Ghana.
