Nurses disagree with doctors on Single Spine issue

The Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) says it is dismayed by the stand taken by doctors on the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) and appealed to the government to implement the new policy with or without the doctors without any delay.

“We know we cannot achieve hundred per cent results prior to its implementation.  Any attempt to revisit the accepted levels as circulated by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission will lead to industrial disharmony,” the GRNA said in a statement.

The nurses said in a statement that all health professionals including the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) cooperated with the consultants and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission.

However, somewhere along the line the GMA withdrew with the excuse that they would not sit and negotiate together with other health professionals and walked out of the meeting.

The statement said the others remained and continued with the negotiation that became the final document that the GMA is rejecting.

In rejecting the document, the GMA complained about the grades of the District Director of Health Services and Medical Superintendent positions, saying to create a grade specifically for the position would not only bring inequalities in the system but would also frown on the relativities that exist between the various professionals in the health sector.

But the GRNA said in its statement that these grades are determined by the employer.  These positions are advertised and qualified people apply to be appointed on merit.

“The job evaluation done by the consultants and Fair Wages and Salaries Commission was with respect to the job and not as a nurse, physician assistant, pharmacist, doctor or specialist. Therefore, the argument of inequality is neither here or there,” the statement said.

It said there was no doubt job evaluation was done but during the exercise the others realised the doctors “knew something we did not know based on the way and manner they downgraded the scores/grades of other health professionals.”

Therefore, the GRNA, the Physicians Assistants and other health professionals rejected the job re-evaluation and opted for the consultants’ scores/grades.

The statement said Principal Medical Assistant, the Principal Nursing tutor and the Principal Nursing Officer are all on 19H as against the Medical Officer’s 19L.

Also, the total job scores of the Principal Nursing Officer and Principal Nursing Tutor as per the job re-evaluation was 693 and not 667 as quoted by the GMA.

It said the Physician Assistant, nurses, midwives and other health groups teach medical students and house officers on the job, adding that the argument that they supervise Chief Physician Assistants is a fallacy.

It said over the years the GMA had always taken undue advantage as employers and top managers to deny other health professionals their due.

The statement said in every salary administration there are overlaps, the end point of someone may become the entry point for another.

The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission also said in a statement that it was difficult to meet the leadership of the unions and associations in order to reach consensus for their smooth migration.

It said whiles the GRNA, Health Service Workers Union and the pharmacists group were willing to meet together with all others within the health sector, the GMA was against this.

“The GMA, from the start of the process, indicated its unpreparedness to meet the other groups to discuss and resolve issues concerning their migration.  The commission, therefore, resorted to meeting the various groups separately.  This is actually time consuming.”

It said despite the acceptance by the management of the health sector of the grade structure, GMA is contesting why some grades within the GRNA, the Principal Nursing Officer, should be equated to the entry grade of a medical doctor.

The statement said to successfully migrate the health sector employees onto the SSSS, there is the need for all parties to come together and be ready to make the necessary concessions.

Source: GNA