Tema health workers withdraw services

Tema, March 9, GNA - Health workers at the Tema General hospital has on Friday joined their colleagues in the nation wide strike action to back their demand.

Mr. Kinsley Asamoah-Bediako, Deputy Chief Health Service Administrator of the hospital would not indicate what the workers are demanding but it is believed to be about some allowances.

Even though there were some skeleton staff at post, patients who called at the hospital had to leave, disappointed because those at the records department were not available to attend to them. Mr. Asamoah-Bediako told the Ghana News Agency that, in view of the strike action the hospital cannot attend to out patients, however, arrangements have been put in place to take care of in-patients and emergency cases.

Patients on admission would not be discharged unless they are declared fit to go home, he declared.

He said when the workers sounded the notice of withdrawing their services, the authorities quickly went into a crisis meeting and decided that all doctors should be at post to attend to emergency cases, whiles a skeleton staff were left at all the departments. Casual workers have also been deployed to all departments, "but we are not operating at full capacity".

"What we have done is to put contingency measures to lessen the impact of the industrial action so that no life was lost as a result," he added.

Mr. Asamoah-Bediako gave the assurance that the hospital would accept dead bodies certified by medical doctors in private hospitals. 09 March 07