The GRNMA is currently on strike over unmet demands by the government
Correspondence from Bono Region
With the ongoing nationwide strike by the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) entering the second week, health facilities in the Bono Region have started feeling the brunt of the industrial action.
Currently, many health facilities in the region are without the full complement of their caregivers due to the strike action because members of the GRNMA have fully complied with the directive and have refused to report for duty, which is affecting operations at the outpatient departments, emergency units, and other units.
The situation has compelled many health facilities across the region, including the Sunyani Municipal Hospital, to implement a series of urgent and strategic measures to ensure that essential healthcare services continue uninterrupted.
According to Dr Michael Arthur, the Medical Superintendent of the Sunyani Municipal Hospital, duties such as attending to patients, recording vital signs, and facilitating medical consultations are now being undertaken by physician assistants and medical officers.
“Currently, if you go to the emergency, the nurses are not there, the OPD too, they are not there as well, but we are running at the OPD because we have the physician assistants and medical officers, so we have now stepped into the shoes of the nurses to render the services that we can also do to the public.”
Similarly, the management of the Sunyani Teaching Hospital has also put in place proactive steps by activating a range of contingency measures, such as recalling Doctors on leave and Doctors on permission to assist in healthcare delivery during this critical moment.
“We are using the available resources that are here… a few of the nurses are around, which we are leveraging on. Apart from that, the Doctors too, a lot of them that are supposed to be enjoying their annual leave and some few permission off, have all been called back and they are all working and the strategy is that you are not limited to only your work as a Doctor you are also working as a nurse,” Adams Omar Mengu, Deputy Administrator, Sunyani Teaching Hospital, disclosed.
Meanwhile, Kingsley Osei-Sarfo, the chairperson of the GRNMA for Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo, insists their members will only call off the strike and return to work if the government implements the agreement in the condition service.
