Govt, GMA to continue negotiations today
Negotiations on conditions of service for public sector doctors will continue today, in spite of the strike announced by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA).
A Ministry of Health source told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the government had not abandoned the discussions with the leadership of the GMA, adding that the dialogue would continue, with the view to reaching a common ground.
The GMA, on Wednesday night, announced the beginning of an industrial action, starting with the withdrawal of services at the outpatients departments (OPD) of public hospitals.
According to the association, the decision was taken after final negotiations with the government on its conditions of service ended in a stalemate.
Consequently, the GMA decided to follow the road map it drew for the mass resignation of its members, which began with the withdrawal of OPD services.
Presently, there are 2,064 public service doctors in the country, made up of medical directors, officers, consultants, specialists and superintendents.
The demands
The doctors are demanding on-call-duty facilitation of 20 per cent of their basic salary; accommodation, 40 per cent of their basic salary; fuel for house officers (80 gallons per month); fuel for specialists (90 gallons per month); fuel for consultants (100 gallons per month) and clothing allowance, 30 per cent of basic salary.
Additionally, the GMA is asking for utility allowance of 20 per cent of their basic salary per month; special risk allowance of 25 per cent of basic salary per month; professional allowance of 50 per cent of their basic salary per month and vehicle maintenance allowance of 20 per cent of their basic salary per month.
The group is also asking for clothing allowance of 30 per cent of their basic salary and an increment in their overtime allowance from 40 hours per week to 200 hours per week.
They are again asking for a waiver on the importation of vehicles, fully paid postgraduate medical education, fully paid continuous professional development sanctioned by the Medical and Dental Council, malpractice insurance cover for all doctors and dentists, as well as lump sum long service award for doctors who serve 15 years and above computed at their last gross salary multiplied by 180 months.
Resumption of negotiations
The source at the MoH said during negotiations, some of the demands were agreed upon, while others were still being negotiated on.
According to it, rapporteurs at the negotiating table had been tasked to put together what were agreed on, what were outstanding and what already existed in the service.
Strike
Meanwhile, the nationwide strike announced by the GMA attracted mixed responses from doctors in public health institutions across the country on the first day.
While services in some of the state-owned health institutions were virtually paralysed following the doctors’ compliance with the directive by their leaders, other health facilities operated normally because doctors were at post.
In some of the facilities, medical and physician assistants took over work abandoned by the striking doctors at the OPDs, but lamentations from patients were the order of the day at facilities where the strike was biting.
Accra
Phoebe Pappoe & Akua Attaa Affum report that at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), most patients had to return home due to the withdrawal of OPD services at the hospital.
In-patients at the various departments were attended to by doctors, as indicated in the road map of the GMA.
However, during a visit to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital at Ridge, doctors were attending to patients at the OPD.
A source at the hospital said the doctors might adhere to the directives of the GMA when the situation became critical.
At the La General Hospital, the situation was the same, as doctors attended to patients at the OPDs of the hospital, save the main OPD where the reverse was the situation.
Kumasi
Kwadwo Baffoe Donkor reports that the withdrawal of OPD services by the GMA did not affect operations at the Kumasi South Hospital, as work left by the doctors was taken over by medical and physician assistants.
The Kumasi South Hospital currently serves as the Ashanti Regional Hospital and as such attends to many cases.
A visit to the hospital by the Daily Graphic indicated that the usual daily activities were going on with nurses attending to patients at the OPD.
Most of the patients seemed unaware of the strike declared by the doctors and did not know the difference between physician assistants and medical doctors.
At the time of the visit, the medical doctors and the management of the hospital were locked up in a meeting.
At the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), management was in an emergency meeting to strategise on how to cater for outpatients, writes Donald Ato Dapatem.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the acting Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Mr Ernest Abban, said the management wanted to devise means to minimise the impact of the action by the medical doctors.
Patients coming for review and other treatment but whose conditions were not life threatening were not catered for.
A visit to the Maternal and Child Health Hospital, near Pampaso, indicated that children whose conditions were not critical were turned away by the nurses.
And at the Manhyia Government Hospital, the Administrator, Mr Samuel Dodzi, told the Daily Graphic that “there is no problem here, as all the doctors are working and taking care of all cases, including outpatients”.
Ho
Mary Anane reports that doctors at the three public health institutions in the Volta Regional capital were at post.
A visit to the three institutions — the Volta Regional Hospital, the Ho Municipal Hospital and the Ho Polyclinic — revealed that normal activities were ongoing, with no indication that the strike had taken effect.
At the regional hospital, doctors at all the OPDs of the various departments, including General Surgery, Urology, Gynaecology and Internal Medicine, were working.
The OPD at the Ho Municipal Hospital was busy, as usual, with many patients.
Checks at other hospitals in the region, including Keta, Peki and Ketu South, revealed that work was ongoing..
Koforidua
Doctors at the Koforidua Regional Hospital were at post, in spite of the strike declared by the GMA, reports George Folley.
When the Daily Graphic went to the hospital in the morning yesterday, all the medical staff were busy attending to patients who had come to seek medical attention.
Some senior staff members who wanted to remain anonymous said they only heard of the strike on radio and that the management of the hospital had not received any letter to that effect.
According to a management member, the hospital played a very huge role in health delivery in the Eastern Region, with a number of patients coming from far and near.
"If we receive a any letter to that effect, fine; but now some of us will treat the strike as hearsay," he said.
Tema
Benjamin Xornam Glover writes that doctors at the Tema General Hospital withdrew thier services from the OPD.
When the Daily Graphic visited the facility yesterday morning, the consulting rooms were empty, although patients had queued up to access services.
At the main OPD, nurses offered their services and directed patients who needed consultation services to private facilities.
A nurse confirmed that doctors had declared a strike and added that those at post were seeing only emergency cases and in-patients.
The Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Kwabena Opoku-Adusei, told the Daily Graphic that doctors were only attending to emergency cases, as indicated in their road map to resign en masse.
Dr Adusei-Poku, who is also the President of the GMA, said the withdrawal of OPD emergencies was the second phase of service withdrawal that members of the GMA intended to roll out next week.
Sunyani
Doctors in the Sunyani municipality were yet to comply with the strike directive as of yesterday, writes Zadok Kwame Gyesi
A visit to some health facilities in the municipality revealed mixed reactions, as some of the doctors were at post, while others claimed they were on strike.
The Administrator of the Sunyani Municipal Hospital, Mr Zakaria Yakubu, told the Daily Graphic that the doctors were at post, since they had not been formally communicated to by the GMA concerning the nationwide strike.
The OPD was full with patients, but some of them said only those who had gone to the hospital early were attended to.
Bolgatanga
Vincent Amenuveve reports from Bolgatanga that doctors were at post at the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital yesterday when the Daily Graphic visited the facility around 8 a.m.
The hospital was buzzing with activities at the OPD where nurses and other paramedics were attending to patients who had turned up early to consult doctors.
A midwife, who pleaded anonymity, said, "As you can see, this hospital has no problem because we are working."
When contacted, the Upper East Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Koku Awoonor-Williams, indicated that the region had not received any formal communication regarding the strike.
