The members of the Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anaesthetists (GACRA) have suspended its intended nationwide strike after an engagement with the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders.
According to leadership of GACRA, they agreed with the Ministry of Health to look forward to a peaceful resolution and bring the matter to a logical conclusion within a stipulated time as resolved in the meeting since they are “law abiding professionals.”
Following the agreement reached at the meeting, the GACRA has directed its members to return to their duties and provide “anaesthesia services to Ghanaians.”
An official statement signed by GACRA’s president and general secretary respectively, James Nwinsagra and Frederick Kporxah, reads; “following an agreement reached between leadership of the Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anaesthetists (GACRA) and stakeholders in a meeting held on 5 January 2022 at the conference room of the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Accra, the withdrawal of anaesthesia services embarked upon by GACRA has been suspended with immediate effect.
GACRA therefore noted that, the association has set-up a taskforce to have dialogue on issues concerning the welfare of its members and to submit their recommendations to the Ministry of Health going forward.
“A taskforce has been constituted with terms of reference in relation to the concerns tabled by GACRA and a timeline of six months for the taskforce to complete and submit its recommendations for implementation by the MOH” the statement said.
STRIKE ACTION
The association has been on strike since January 1, 2022 over what it described as the expiration of the license of its members.
However, the group had earlier refused to renew the license as it says it has parted ways with the Medical and Dental Council for its failure to champion the cause of anaesthetists over the years.
