Strike Over: Doctors Busy Today After Resuming Work

Patients who have been denied access to medical doctors will today be smiling back to public hospitals for their medical checkups.

Public hospitals nationwide are very busy today - NEAT FM’s morning show checks confirmed as striking doctors resume work today, Monday August 24, 2015.

For close to a month, public hospital doctors refused to attend to emergency cases and Out-Patient cases after their negotiation with government over their conditions of serve his the rocks – but the medical body called off its three week long strike last Friday.

However, NEAT FM’s Kwabena Ntow in the Volta Region reports that – doctors in the region are “fully at post” after touring some public medical institutions.

Michael Akrofi in the Eastern Region also told host Kwasi Aboagye that – “Doctors are working” – adding that – “majority of the hospitals here [Eastern region] are very busy with lots of people”.

Akrofi also recalled spotting “oldies” in taxi at some hospitals he visited early hours of Monday.

NEAT FM’s Nana Sanka in Cape Coast also gave a similar account – “Doctors are now responding to patients” – “People have really suffered,” he added.

However- the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and government will reopen negotiations on a codified conditions of service for public sector doctors today, after the medical body called off its three week long strike Friday.

The Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Haruna Iddrisu has assured that an agreed and signed document on the conditions of service for doctors must be ready by the end of October this year, once negotiations resume today.

The two major actors in the negotiation process have both agreed that the negotiations should be conducted in good faith, and must be devoid of the past weeks’ incidents during which acrimony and mistrust took centre stage in the negotiations.