Kumasi, May 7, GNA - Junior doctors at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) have gone back to work after a 6-day strike. This followed payment of their fuel and salary arrears by the hospital and the government's intervention to set up a negotiation team comprising the Minister of Health, Dr. George Sipa-Adjah Yankey and the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) to review salaries.
The junior doctors started the strike on May 1 and vowed not to rescind their decision until all their demands were fully met. Despite the intervention of the Health Minister ordering the hospital to pay those allowances, the doctors insisted that the totality of their demands had to be fully met as a pre-condition for them to resume work. The strike action immensely affected health care delivery in the metropolis and beyond since KATH is the only referral point for the northern sector of the country.
A source close to GMA told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the team has been given a one week ultimatum to conclude the negotiations. "By 15th of this month, the team should have finished its work and the outcome would determine the next line of action by the doctors," he added. 07 May 09
