Cape Coast Teaching Hospital not actively using GHIMS; Health Minister’s claim false

On November 15, 2025, the Ministry of Health, in a Facebook post, reported that the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, announced that the Ghana Health Information Management System (GHIMS) is “actively in use” at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH).

The post, which described the rollout as the start of a state-owned digital patient records platform, suggested that the system had already transitioned into real-time operations within the facility.

Considering recent reports of disruptions in Ghana’s digital health infrastructure and the sensitivity surrounding patients’ personal medical records, the announcement generated significant public interest, prompting some commentators to draw Fact-Check Ghana‘s attention to look into the accuracy of the claim.

Based on this, Fact-Check Ghana has looked into the claim and present its findings below.

Claim: “GHIMS is now actively in use at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH).”

Verdict: False

Explanation: To verify this claim, Fact-Check Ghana contacted doctors and nurses working at CCTH, including specialists directly involved in patient care.

The health workers interviewed, who pleaded anonymity, stated that GHIMS is not yet in use for clinical work at the hospital.

When we asked one of the senior doctors whether the GHIMS was being used for patient records, he said, “No.”

Another clinician confirmed that not a single department was actively using the system and added, “It is not true,” explaining that the announcement does not reflect the situation on the ground.

Further checks revealed that doctors and nurses are not entering patient notes, prescriptions, or laboratory requests into GHIMS at the facility.

Other medical doctors explained that entering patient notes, prescriptions, and laboratory requests, among others, are core functions and critical indicators of actual system deployment, and without them, claims of “active use” cannot be substantiated.

When asked about the status of installation and training, one of the doctors explained that work is still ongoing. According to him, this means the hospital has not completed the necessary systems setup, staff orientation, or workflow integration required for an operational electronic health record system.

Also, a resident of Ola North, a suburb of Cape Coast, who sent her sister to the hospital, said the patient was not attended to using the Information Management System (IMS).

“I brought my sister here to the Cape Coast Hospital, and the health Information Management System is not working here,” Rita Annan said.

She continued, “Everything is on paper, from your lab result to going to see the doctor; everything is on paper”.

Based on the above explanation by the health professionals and patients at CCTH and the confirmation that essential clinical processes are still being carried out manually, the Ministry’s assertion that GHIMS is actively in use at the CCTH teaching hospital cannot be true. The system is not yet functional for patient care, departments have not begun digital documentation, and installation and training remain incomplete. Therefore, the claim that GHIMS has begun active use at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital is false.