The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has called for the dismissal of the Ashanti Regional Director for the National Service Scheme (NSS), Mr. Alex Opoku Mensah for verbally assaulting a nurse at the Manhyia District Hospital.
Their demand comes after Opoku Mensah, whose daughter is undergoing her medical housemanship at the Manhyia District Hospital in Kumasi, went to the facility on Monday to verbally abuse a nurse who had a misunderstanding with his daughter.
In a statement, GRNMA said they have given the government a 72-hour ultimatum to sack the appointee else they will embark on industrial action.
“Public Services Commission and Government for that matter should sack the said Regional Director immediately because he is not fit for the Director position he holds in the Public Service. He had absolutely NO RIGHT to enter Manhyia District Hospital and verbally abuse and threaten the nurse in question who was on duty at the time.
“As a Director, he should have known that Manhyia District Hospital had a Medical Superintendent and a Nurse Manager under whom the nurse works and if indeed he had any complaint to make, they were the people he should have engaged and not to go to the hospital and fight the nurse on behalf of his daughter. We wish to state categorically that if the government does not relieve Mr. Alex Poku Mensah of his duty as Ashanti Regional Director of the National Service Scheme within 72 hours, nurses and midwives of Manhyia Hospital will be called upon to lay down their tools, followed by the whole of Ashanti Region and then it will be escalated to the whole nation.”
It also advised the management of the hospital to school the said House Officer on her role in the medical team, adding that the association will continue to advocate for their patients and clients even if it makes another member of the team uncomfortable.
GRNMA urged all nurses and midwives at the hospital to remain calm and go about their normal duties effectively.
It also asked the Ashanti regional branch of the association to report the incident to the police immediately and report the same to GRNMA Headquarters.
