Doctors Raise Red Flags Over Single Spine

The national executive council of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has expressed its concern about the undue delay in moving the health sector onto the single spine salary structure. The GMA is also worried over the silence of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission on payment of arrears due members of the association. This was contained in a press statement read by Dr Emmanuel Adom Winful, president of the association, in Sunyani, at the close of the 3rd national executive council meeting of the GMA. �As much as the GMA believes that the Single Spine Pay Policy seeks to bring equity and fairness in the public sector pay structure, it will not look on unconcerned if the fundamental policy of the process is undermined�, the statement said. The association called on the �Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to strictly �stick to the job re-evaluation results in the health sector, since the GMA will not be in a position to accept any unreasonable changes in the levels, to the detriment of its members�. It said any attempt to change the figures would push the GMA to reject the entire Single Spine Pay Policy, which invariably would disturb the industrial harmony in the country. The association called on the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, to as a matter of urgency, sit with the Ghana Medical Association to discuss salary review for doctors immediately. �This is because salaries for the health sector have not seen any review since 2009�, it said, explaining that, the immediate review had become important because there was no clear timeline as to when the health sector would come on board the Single Spine Salary Structure. It added that, a doctor�s current salary was not adequate enough for the economic realities of 2011.