Gov’t pays 2012 market premium to health workers

Government says it has released the first tranche of market premium arrears to health workers.

The payment is in fulfillment of a promise made during last month’s unrest on the health front.

Doctors especially had been agitating for a one-time payment of the premium on suspicion that the government may not honour its three-tranche payment arrangement of the 2012 arrears.

However Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Tony Goodman told Joy News that the payment schedule agreed with the health workers is being followed.

He hoped that “other agreements we entered with the Ghana Medical Association will also be honoured in the next tranche”.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has accused the government of using conversion difference recoveries to take back the monies paid to its members.

Dr. Frank Serebour, the General Secretary of the GMA said “I can confirm that they have paid and deducted it back. It’s like they have paid with the left hand and deducted with the right hand...”

He maintained that the association will keep fighting for the restoration of the conversion difference, to “curtail this unlawful recovery that is going on”.