Junior doctors at Korle Bu Apologise - Hospital

Accra, May 4, GNA _ The Junior House Officers at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra whose services were dispensed with for embarking on a strike action, have apologised to the hospital authorities.

A statement signed by Mr Mustapha Salifu, Public Relations Manager, said the junior doctors wrote to offer their apologies and plead to the hospital to reconsider employing them.

The statement said the hospital had, however, employed 70 senior house officers whose applications were pending before the strike action by junior house officers.

"In order to get the required number of house officers for the year, the Hospital will advertise the position of junior house officers for those interested in the position to reapply," it said. The statement said those who would reapply would go through the competitive exercise before they were reappointed to fill the limited vacancies available.

"Applicants who will not be successful will be free to apply for placement at other accredited hospitals," the statement said. Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, Chief Executive Officer of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, on Wednesday said the Hospital Administration took the decision to cancel an earlier agreement with some newly recruited House Officers based on their refusal to acknowledge acceptance of their appointments before the expiry date. He said the Hospital Administration upon further deliberations and considerations on the demands of the House Officers of evidence of their conditions of service took the decision to give the opportunity to others who were interested to work.

Prof. Frimpong Boateng, who explained the circumstance leading to discontinuation of the appointment in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday, said the Hospital Administration received a letter from the House Officers on the April 25 demanding their conditions of service, backed by a threat to withdraw their services by April 26, 2007.

He said the House Officers had earlier been told at a meeting that negotiations were still on-going between the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) on the concerns raised and negotiations on the salary structure of public sector health workers, yet they refused to acknowledge acceptance of their appointments by the deadline which fell on April 30, 2007.

He said that the hospital administration could not compromise the position of the House Officers with the quality of patient care given at the facility, which would be greatly interrupted if the issue were to drag. 04 May 07