If it is not an emergency, do not come – Eastern Regional Hospital Doctor to patients

Correspondence from Eastern Region

Medical Director for the Eastern Regional Hospital, Dr. Arko Akoto Ampaw, has cautioned patients whose ailment is not an emergency not to dare come to the hospital because they would not be attended to.

The Medical Director said at this crucial time when all the over 400 nurses in that hospital are on strike, it would be difficult for the few Doctors and the other medical assistants to attend to non-emergency cases since there are already many emergency cases as well as some in-patients at the facility being attended to currently.

“Because the numbers can be overwhelming, we plead with the general population that if it is not an emergency, do not come. Because if you come you will distract our attention because you will become many and we will not be able to pick the real emergencies.

“So essentially we are focusing on emergencies and plead that they (cases) should be true emergencies. The general OPD is not running but if you come as an emergency, we are likely to attend to you to keep you alive which is the main thing. I mean this is the time that I would ask that the people of the society or the general population should be considerate to even themselves so that only true emergencies come so that we can keep them alive while the impasse is resolved, ” he stressed.

Dr. Akoto Ampaw who was speaking to GhanaWeb in an interview in Koforidua on Tuesday expressed that his outfit had had to recall all key and other auxiliary staff members to fill the gap left by the striking nurses so that healthcare can duly and smoothly be delivered to patients.

“They really are on strike and what management is doing is try to recall as many people as possible to redeploy them into the different departments to hold the fort while we try to get the nurses back to work. We have recalled all health aides, assistants, orderlies, we have recalled all house officers, all specialists, Doctors and interns and since yesterday we have asked them to take up the positions to be able to do the work that the nurses would have done. So far, we have done quite well,” he disclosed.

Dr. Akoto Ampaw also disclosed that some of the recalled staff are being made to work for up to 12 hours while others too even spend 24 hours in order to fill the void of the striking nurses.

He, however, appealed that the impasse between the nurses and their employers would quickly be resolved so that situation can come back to normalcy.

“We appreciate that some of them have had to go for twelve hours, some are even running up to 24 hours just to mitigate the effect of the strike so that we will not have mortalities which is our main concern for now.

“For that matter, we pray that if the impasse can be addressed as quickly as possible so that the nurses can come back to work and provide the care that we shall need for our patients,” he said.

GhanaWeb also visited the Koforidua Policlinic where the OPD was virtually empty as only patients were seen in line going to see the doctors.

Some of the patients who spoke to GhanaWeb expressed their concerns.

“No, they did not attend to me. They said they are on strike. When you go they sack you to go home. Ah, there is no one sitting there. As soon as you get there and greet, they tell you, madam, go go go, we are not working!” Josephine, a mother with a baby said.

Another man said, “in this Koforidua Hospital, what I came to see here. I plead with the government to ensure it pays the nurses on strike so they can come back to work. when I came I saw people lying in the emergency unit and it was not a joke.”

“I brought my brother. We are at the casualty. They are taking very good care of him. Even in the strike, they are taking good care of him. We only appeal that the striking nurses return to work,” another woman told Ghanaweb at the Regional Hospital.

A man who had his relative discharged expressed that it was “too bad” for the nurses to plan a strike in an election period and appealed to the government to conclude a negotiation with the nurses to return to work.

“You are going on strike when we are about to go to the election? It is too bad. The government should talk to them and if there needs to be a negotiation, it should negotiate with them. See how people are suffering here,” he expressed.

video=107845>