Hustle and bustle grind to a halt at Korle-bu Hospital
The Monday morning hustle and bustle at the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital Out-Patients Department (OPD) has grinded to a halt as the doctors’ nationwide strike entered its third week.
A visit by the GNA to the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital revealed that the Out-Patient Department of the Child Health Department was virtually empty.
However, some nurses at the maternity wing of the hospital were attending to post natal patients.
Last Friday, the doctors withdrew services for emergency cases, which they were attending to earlier when the strike started.
Negotiations between the government and the doctors broke down over the weekend when no consensus was reached over their conditions of service.
The situation has worsened, as some people with minor illnesses at these hospitals have been turned away; and would have to seek health care at the private hospitals.
An orderly, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said four labour cases were turned away Monday morning due to the strike, and noted that, things could get out of hands if the government did not reach an agreement on the doctors condition of service.
Hospital officials are however tight-lipped on the strike.
Meanwhile, Dr Opoku Adusei, President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) told the GNA in an interview that, the GMA would follow the road map to the letter, and should the negotiations break down they would withdraw their total services from August 14, 2015.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the GMA’s road map to members and copied the GNA, said Government had failed to meet the deadline for completion of negotiations on Conditions of Service for Doctors working in the public sector.
The initial deadline of June 30, 2015, given by the GMA on November 9, 2014, was reviewed to July 29, 2015, by the Extra-Ordinary General Meeting of the Association held in June, 2015.
It said the second deadline of July 29, 2015, had elapsed and since doctors in the public sector did not have a negotiated and signed Conditions of Service document as at the said time and date, the NEC had no option but to roll out the road map as put forward by the Extra-Ordinary General Meeting.
The Road map states that: withdrawal of Out Patient Department (OPD) Services starts from Thursday, July 30, 2015 to Thursday, August 6, 2015.
The withdrawal of both OPD and Emergency Services starts from August 7-13, 2015, and the total withdrawal of services, from August 14, 2015.
“Meanwhile, all Doctors are advised to go by this directive since we cannot continue to work without Conditions of Service. Members will be updated on any development as and when it happens”, the road map said.
Source: GNA