GRNMA Strike: We are helpless, patients to govt

Scores of patients have been abandoned at government healthcare facilities across the country following a strike by some health workers over poor conditions of service.

The duty boycott by the nurses, midwives, and other service providers commenced on Monday, September 21, 2020.

Although the National Labour Commission (NLC) had secured an interlocutory injunction to prevent the action by the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), the aggrieved health workers say they have not been officially served.

The health workers include the GRNMA, Ghana Physicians Assistants Association, and Ghana Association of Registered Anaesthetists among others.

GhanaWeb visited the nation’s top referral hospital, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra while beds in the medical and emergency wards remain occupied with patients; they lie helpless.

Some patients who spoke to GhanaWeb lamented the struggle they have had to endure as the strike action bites.

“I am due for surgery tomorrow; a nurse is supposed to prepare me for that. However, nobody is here and I do not know what to do. The government should come to their aid so they return back to their posts,” a patient said.

“They are telling us that because they are on strike [so] we should take our patients away. But my question is where to,” a relative of a patient told GhanaWeb.

The Greater Accra Regional Hospital has also suffered a fair share of the strike action which kicked in on Monday morning.

Medical Director at Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Dr. Emmanuel K. Srofenyo, told GhanaWeb that his outfit is overwhelmed with work as majority of the health workers are absent.

“We are actually experiencing the effect of the strike. The health workers on strike are crucial to our health care delivery in this hospital. Now, doctors are doing their best by taking on extra responsibilities which is meant for the striking health workers.”

“You know this hospital is also a holding center for Coronavirus treatment. The COVID-19 treatment center has only doctors now. There are no nurses there. The doctors are taking on extra duties. We hope that the concerns of these striking health workers are addressed soon so we have all hands on deck,” he told GhanaWeb.

Reports indicate the development remains unchanged in other regions across the country.

This comes at a time when the health professionals are at the forefront of the fight against the novel coronavirus

According to the groups, numerous negotiations and meetings on improvement of their conditions of service have failed to yield the desired results.