Health Minister Kwabina Mintah Kandoh has appealed to doctors at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) to call off their strike and return to the negotiation table for the sake of patients and the broader healthcare system.
He appealed to the doctors during a press conference in Accra on Thursday, April 24.
“My humble appeal to the medical doctors and health practitioners at Tamale Teaching Hospital is that I am the first person to take care of your interests. Therefore, let us call off the strike and let us all regroup and strategise the way forward. There are some of the things we can do with our internally generated funds, so please, let us confront the issues as they are,” he appealed.
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Mr Akandoh further highlighted the need for a shift in the management of resources within the health sector, particularly in the areas of procurement and maintenance of medical equipment.
He noted that while the government continues to invest in hospital infrastructure and supplies, there must be a more sustainable approach to long-term asset management.
"There are some of the things we easily do with our internally generated funds. It is just not sustainable for the government to keep donating equipment to health facilities, and at the end of the day, when the equipment is obsolete, we run back to the government for money to either maintain or replace this equipment," he cautioned.
The doctors have withdrawn emergency services following the sacking of the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital on Tuesday, after the minister paid an unannounced visit to the hospital.
This was contained in a press release issued on April 23.
The DATTH statement emphasized that “with immediate effect, all members of DATTH have proceeded on an indefinite suspension of all emergency and outpatient services.”
The doctors also outlined several demands, including the provision of essential medical equipment and supplies, such as constant water and electricity supply, oxygen, and consumable items like gloves and syringes.
“We shall resume provision of emergency and outpatient services after we receive appropriate apologies,” the statement read.
Additionally, the doctors demanded medium-term provisions, including an MRI scan machine, CT scan machine, mammography machine, and other essential equipment to facilitate their work.
