Nurses reject attempt to freeze salary increment

The Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) has rejected attempts by the government to freeze public sector salary increment for 2014.

Mr Kwaku Asante-Krobea, GRNA President, said the Association found it rather untenable the proposition that salary increment for the year would be frozen.

“GRNA believes that this development would worsen the plight of the ordinary worker considering the worsening socio-economic conditions of the time,” Mr Asante-Krobea said at a media briefing in Accra.

He said the Association deemed it expedient to raise a number of observations which include the suspended payment of conversion difference on the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) that they require government, the employer and all relevant stakeholders to consider as a matter of urgency.

Other issues of concern raised by the Association were the unpaid incremental credits on the SSSS, threat of abolishing nurses and midwives trainee allowances as well as the unsafe working environment that threatened patient safety.

According to him, these issues were not new to government and stakeholders, but the lack of commitment to resolve them had led to prolonged agitations over the years.

He therefore urged government to take prudent steps to reconsider the issues and resolve them to ensure quality health care delivery in the country.

Mr Asante-Krobea said 2013 presented many challenges against their professional practice where they had to face the stark reality of material resource scarcity and lack of equipment.

He said this translated into many professional dilemmas and provoked the obvious responses of initiatives and innovations from their members by which they were able to offer responsible nursing and midwifery contributions to patient care.

He said that the Association accepted in good faith some reports of clients dissatisfaction with their care within the year and promised to focus attention on their shortcomings to enhance service delivery.

Mr Asante-Krobea said members were ready to confront new challenges of the emergence of new dimensions of the burden of diseases and complex medical conditions.