Korle Bu Doctors On Strike

According to Joy FM, doctors at the Korle Bu teaching hospital are on strike to demand the payment of their additional duty hours’ allowance. Nurses and other para-medical staff are at their post. The action of the doctors is continuing despite official notices that the allowances will be paid on Tuesday. A visit to the hospital this morning, revealed that apart from hapless nurses struggling to keep the situation under control. Sources close to the hospital also say, the absence of doctors has resulted in all cases including emergencies been forwarded to the wards. Concerned members of the hospital community told JoyNEWS that the action of the doctors is unwarranted, after the hospital administration fixed Tuesday for the payment of the allowances. The doctors strike action got to the attention of the public after the death of a 14-year old hole-in-heart patient yesterday. Frank Asubonteng, whose operation six years ago attracted national as well as international attention, died because of delay in receiving medical care after a sudden illness. His father Nana Asubonteng in 1996 refused to allow the operation to be performed on the boy on religious grounds. Nana Asubonteng is demanding an enquiry into the circumstances that led to the death of his son.