Dr Nana Ayew Afriyie, the Rating Member on Parliament’s Well being Committee, has criticised the NDC authorities’s strategy to the continuing strike by nurses and midwives throughout Ghana.
Talking at a press briefing in Parliament right this moment, Dr Afriyie asserted that the healthcare professionals’ calls for are fully “justified” and condemned the federal government’s perceived lack of engagement and dismissive posture, which he believes has escalated the economic motion.
The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Affiliation (GRNMA) laid down their instruments on Tuesday, June 4, which has introduced very important healthcare providers throughout over 300 public hospitals and clinics in all 16 areas to a close to standstill.
1000’s of sufferers have been left stranded, with emergency items working minimally and scheduled surgical procedures submitponed indefinitely.
The nurses and midwives initiated the strike over what they describe as extended delays within the implementation of their 2024 Collective Settlement, which addresses critical situations of service and remuneration.
Dr Afriyie vehemently defended the legitimacy of the nurses’ and midwives’ claims, questioning what facet of their Collective Bargaining Settlement (CBA) calls for might be deemed unreasonable.
He highlighted long-standing agreements and historic provisions, together with a “30-month allowance” reportedly agreed upon below a earlier administration and the “rural incentive allowance,” essential for attracting healthcare staff to underserved areas.
He additional pointed to “gasoline allowances” and “uniform allowances,” which he careworn have been “historic for the reason that Nineteen Sixties” and shouldn’t be topic to arbitrary modifications by any authorities.
“All of the expectation within the CBA name for appellate pace is justified and never far-fetched,” Dr. Afriyie declared, emphasising that the nurses’ persistence had worn skinny as a result of authorities inaction.
Based on the Rating Member, the core difficulty stems from the government’s failure to have interaction since January.
“Authorities has not seen the necessity to have engaged them since January. They really feel undermined so far as their rights are involved,” he acknowledged.
Moreover, he detailed the gradual escalation of the strike, from “sporting crimson bands” to withdrawing Out-Affected person Department (OPD) providers, then In-Patient Division (IPD) providers, earlier than lastly resorting to a “complete strike,” lamenting that “no one was listening to them.”
Dr Afriyie strongly condemned the federal government’s determination to pursue authorized motion towards the placing nurses.
“To have taken them to court docket. Even taking them to court docket is an excessive act… You can not use the regulation to shackle them. That’s not proper,” he asserted, calling for a direct change within the authorities’s “posturing.”
He urged the federal government to “Respect them. Sit with them; allow them to know what you are able to do and what you can’t do.”
The Minority’s well being spokesperson additionally highlighted the timeliness of the nurses’ calls for, particularly with the approaching mid-year price range evaluate.
—Myjoyonline
