TTH Strike: Health Minister Begs Doctors to Resume Work
The Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has appealed to medical doctors of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) to back out of their ongoing indefinite strike.
This was during his second visit to the medical facility on April 24 to deliver some essentials.
According to him, dialogue must rather be used to resolve all outstanding challenges that confront the facility and not an industrial action which directly impacts the ordinary Ghanaian.
“I am prepared for us to come around the table and discuss whatever we need to discuss. My humble appeal to my wonderful medical doctors and health professionals at Tamale Teaching Hospital is that I am the first person to take care of your interest and therefore let’s call off the strike and let’s all regroup and strategize going forward.”
“There must be a new direction. We will all group together and think through it. Maybe I’m looking at it from a different direction. We will share ideas. Let’s pursue the interest of the ordinary Ghanaian.”
He opined that public health facilities had to strategise to sustainably fund essentials to facilitate healthcare delivery with internally generated funds.
“Please let’s confront the issues as they are. It is not just sustainable for the government to keep donating equipment to health facilities and at the end of the day when the equipment is obsolete, we run back to the government for money to either maintain or replace equipment whiles at least even if we are not charging the requisite fee, we generate something small out of these machines. What happens to these money.”
Hon Akandoh used the occasion to express his utmost respect for medical practitioners across the country, adding that he holds no intent to disrespect them.
“I have absolutely no intention to disrespect any medical doctor or any health worker. That will be the last thing I will do. But indeed, let it be said that respect is reciprocal.”
The doctors of the TTH laid down their tools in response to what they deemed unfair treatment by the Health Minister upon an unannounced visit to the facility for first-hand information on the death of a 31-year-old allegedly as a result of negligence.
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
