Negotiate with doctors — PPP advises gov’t

Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has advised the ruling government to engage striking doctors in a negotiation in order to bring a quick resolution to the protracted labour dispute over conditions of service.

The party also asked the government to work with a sense of urgency to provide tangible solutions to the raging impasse in the health sector.

Doctors in public hospitals have withdrawn their services as they push for a condition of service.

Government pharmacists have also partially withdrawn services over similar concerns.

The doctors had further served notice to resign en block from the public sector if the demands of their parent association, Ghana Medical Association (GMA), tabled before the government’s negotiation team were not met.

But in a statement issued and copied to Today, the PPP expressed concern about the entrenched positions taken by both sides to the impasse, urging them to re-engage each other.

The party was also not happy at the posture of the government in dealing with the grievances of the doctors.

Following the strike action, public health professionals have come under a lot of flak from persons associated with the government, whiles President Mahama had also stated that he would not authorise any expenditure on wages and compensation not provided for in the budget.

However, according to the PPP, the attitude of government in always using party communicators to resolve labour issues in the media rather compounds situations.

The PPP therefore in the statement challenged government to take full responsibility, demonstrate competence and exercise duty of candour in ending the dispute.

The statement further called on President Mahama and the chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to order their people to desist from heaping insults on the health professionals.

It said, it “was regrettable that instead of addressing the merits or demerits of the demands of the medical doctors, this public health problem has become another arena for senseless politics with NDC and NPP officials accusing each other to score cheap political points.”

The PPP stressed that the penchant of playing politics with the health care system cannot continue stating, there will be no explanation to give, if politics is allowed to divide the people and fail to offer the best healthcare to the citizens.

The release pressed home the need to, “take off our political colours and lenses, to collectively deal with the lack of sufficient medical personnel retarding efficient healthcare delivery.”

“It is widely acclaimed that Health is Wealth and so it is needless for us to play politics with our healthcare. We must get serious about the people's health and cut off the politics”, the PPP added.

The statement reminded President Mahama and the NDC government that leadership is not about propaganda.

“Sowing seeds of discord cannot be an alternate for pragmatic solutions. Government must get real, be sensitive and not take Ghanaian professionals for granted”, the statement stated.

Whiles it appreciated President's point about sticking to the budget, the PPP hoped that he would muster the courage to do just that.

The PPP however, questioned the correlation between the demands of the doctors and president Mahama’s pledge to stick to the budget.

The PPP also asked the health professionals to, “set aside their pride and hurt feelings and consider the environment we all live in” emphasizing that Ghana cannot afford a long strike period involving health professionals.

The party again asked the leaders of our health professionals not to punish the people saying they have made their point.

“Our party will be first in line to support you if after going back to work government turns its back on your requests and does not negotiate in good faith” It declared, whiles asking them to forget about the politicians and their insults, including those who sought to lower “your credibility by leaking the offer you put on the table for negotiation to the media and the public. We urge you to negotiate in good faith but go back to work because many lives depend on you.”