Accra Psychiatric Hospital to hold crisis meeting over strike by nurses

Management of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital is scheduled to hold a crisis meeting today [Monday] as they strive to deal with the impact of the ongoing strike by nurses at the facility.

Over 190 nurses have abandoned the work to commence their sit-down protest over unpaid salaries.

The nurses say all efforts to get government to release their salaries have proved futile.

Some of the agitating nurses who spoke to Joy News said they have been ignored for far too long.

Spokesperson for the striking doctors said “this is so sad, we issued this threat as far back as last week and today and is Monday, not even a phone call from the ministry or Ghana Health Service.

“This tells you how sad it is because if these issues are coming up and they cared about the innocent patients, by now someone should have called us but nobody has till date”, he added.

Acting Medical Director of the hospital Dr Adwoa Pinaman Appau says management is meeting this afternoon to take interim measures to deal with the issues.

She said the strike will affect the operations of the hospital because the nurses offer a lot of assistance to doctors at the facility.

The psychiatric nurses are not the only health service providers striking in the health sector.

A strike by doctors to demand conditions of service has entered its fifth day.

The Ghana Medical Association has made it clear that its members will resign en masse in two weeks if nothing is done about their demands.

Pharmacists at government hospitals are also threatening industrial action this week as they protest what they say are discrepancies in their placement on the Single Spine Salary Structure.

Chairman of the Health Committee in Parliament, Joseph Yileh Chireh says the recent development in the health sector is worrying.

"I think that everybody including the committee on health is very worried about what is going on in the health sector.

“Our concern particularly is the loss of lives which will result from the strike action”, he added.

Mr Yileh Chireh believes that the issues can be resolved through dialogue but if that does not happen “we are appealing to all the stakeholders to think about a bigger Ghana and then the concerns of the ordinary people.

“We should now look beyond what we think is our right and then appeal to everybody to lower the tension and let us resolve this matter”, he added.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Naa Sakwaba Akwa | [email protected]