Technicians serve patients with drugs at Effia Nkwanta Hospital

Technicians at the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Takoradi are assisting to serve patients at the Pharmacy Unit following the strike action by pharmacists over discrepancies in their salaries.

A reliable source at the hospital told the GNA that hospital authorities wanted to avoid a situation where patients would leave the hospital without taking medication.

Ghana News Agency’s visit to the hospital on Wednesday spotted patients waiting anxiously in the scorching sun at the forecourt of the Dispensary Unit of the Hospital with their prescriptions.

A 55-year-old patient, Madam Ekua Essoun who showed her prescription form to the GNA, said she had been waiting for hours without being served due to the large number of patients in the queue.

When contacted the Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr Paul Nkwaw Ntodi, said he just resumed work after a three-week absence and would respond appropriately after assessing the situation.

The Western Regional Chairman of the Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association (GOSPA), Mr. Oscar Amissah, said though there was arbitration between the National Labour Commission (NLC) and the Fair Wages and Salary commission (FWSC), “we have been directed by our leadership to continue with the strike action”.

Mr. Amissah said they were firm because nothing meaningful came out of their previous meetings with the FWSC.

“We provide a number of services such as counseling patients on rational use of drugs, valid interpretation of drug prescriptions, clinical and diabetic services,  in-house manufacturing of medicines, among many other services”, he said.

Mr Amissah said pharmacists played crucial role in dispensation of drugs at public health facilities therefore government must treat their concerns with dispatch.

Source: GNA