A member of Parliament’s Health Committee, Dr. Kingsley Agyemang, has called on striking doctors at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) to resume their duties, warning that the ongoing industrial action could endanger the health and lives of people in the Northern Region.
Doctors at TTH on Wednesday, April 23, announced an indefinite suspension of emergency and outpatient services in response to what they described as “unwarranted attacks” by Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh and Tamale North MP, Alhassan Suhuyini.
Speaking on Breakfast Daily on Channel One TV on Thursday, April 24, Dr. Agyemang, who also serves as the MP for Akim Abuakwa South, acknowledged the doctors’ grievances but appealed for a return to service to safeguard public health.
“We are pleading with the doctors here that they should look beyond and do what they always do for the people of the north and anyone that comes into contact with their service,” he urged.
Dr. Agyemang also expressed confidence that the Health Minister had taken lessons from the incident, noting the need for reflection and restraint from all sides.
“Our colleague, the minister, too, I believe he has learnt his lesson, and it calls for soberness. Public service is a thankless service, and once you put your foot out there for it, you should be ready for it. We pray for calmness and we pray that the doctors in the Tamale Teaching Hospital resume their services so that caregiving happens in the north,” he said.
The doctors are demanding an unqualified apology from both the Health Minister and the Tamale North MP to Dr. Valentine Akwulpwa, the entire TTH medical staff, and especially personnel at the Accident and Emergency Department.
Beyond the call for apologies, the doctors have also presented a comprehensive list of urgent logistical and infrastructural needs to hospital management. These include a stable water supply, uninterrupted electricity, continuous oxygen delivery, and immediate provision of essential clinical supplies such as gloves, gauze, cotton, face masks, syringes, cannulae, disinfectants, and plaster.
Additional requests include consistent access to laboratory reagents, vital signs monitors, ventilators across various departments, transport incubators, and repairs to key hospital equipment including autoclave machines.
-citinewsroom
