Paramedical staff in Upper East issues strikes threats

Bolgatanga, Jan 14, GNA - Paramedical staff of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in the Upper East Region on Thursday gave a 72-hour ultimatum to the Ministry of Health to redress disparities in their Additional Duty Hour Allowances (ADHA) or they would embark on an indefinite strike action.

"We have always believed and relied on dialogue to solve our problems but our bosses have taken us for granted and we think when we embark on this strike whatever is hidden would definitely come out."

Pharmacists, x-ray specialists, laboratory technicians, administrators, catering, laundry, records, mortuary and maintenance personnel in all public health facilities in the region are expected to embark on the strike action by January 17 if their demands are not met. This was conveyed by executives of the paramedical unions in all the districts in the region at a press briefing in Bolgatanga during which they said their ADHA should be between the range of 152-192 hours for the various categories and not 21-120 hours given to them in the region.

The spokesperson for the Para-medical staff in the Upper East Region, Mr Edmund Nyawura, said that for a long time they had been overburdened with work normally meant for a larger number of staff. He said for fairness to prevail it was incumbent on the officials at the GHS to ensure that the situation is resolved unconditionally. "Health authorities in the region have continuously and arbitrarily allotted hours to Para-medical staff which is unfair and all attempts to have the anomaly corrected have proved futile."

Mr Nyawura said the morale of health staff in the region was dwindling very fast and that the right range should be calculated from September 2004 and the difference paid immediately.