A hospital administrator at the Takoradi Hospital, Reverend Osei Boateng, has called on government to address the needs of public sector nurses, midwives and their allied associations to save the lives of patients who need medical care.
This follows the decision of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) to lay down their tools, which began Monday, September 21, 2020, in view of government’s failure to address what they term as “poor conditions of service”.
Administrator of the hospital, who spoke to Angel FM’s Nana Fynn said that, “the effect [of the strike] is very terrible and I know government would notice it in Accra as it is happening here in Takoradi hospitals. If this continues, people would lose their lives and we can’t bring them back when the strike is over”.
Rev. Boateng appealed to the government and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to sit down with the striking workers to find solutions to their concerns in order to restore normalcy to hospital operations.
He added that, government should find a lasting solution to all other problems confronting the health sector to avoid another strike from other workers within the sector.
“I plead with government not to look at only the nurses to the neglect of Lab technicians and other allied health service personnel which may result to another sit-down strike after the nurses have returned to work. It is a whole sector with different job descriptions, assessment and values. The doctors and nurses perform separate tasks hence, there should be equitable distribution of resources to bring about peace”, he stated.
According to him, he has been at work since yesterday as an administrator to ensure the smooth running of the facility and also to secure all properties within the hospital premises.
The Reverend further pointed out that most of the units including laboratory, dispensary, records, accident emergency and x-ray are all in operation however, they cannot admit patients at the facility.
He explained that wards are closed to admissions, hence the need to refer such patients, due to the absence of nurses to give medical care for admitted patients.
He added that units such as antenatal care, weighing among others are also closed to due to the absence of nurses.
Some persons who were stranded at the hospital facility also called on government to address the needs of the nurses so that they can be attended to.
In a similar development, the industrial action has left patients stranded in the majority of government hospitals in the Ashanti Region.
Pure Fm’s Osei Kwadwo who visited some hospitals in Ashanti Region reports that some health centers such as Asuofua Health Centre and Ahenema Kokoben Health Centre have been shut down following the strike by the nurses.
