Ghanaian Doctors Stop Emergency Services As Strike Over Conditions Of Service Commences

gh

Doctors in Ghana have stopped providing emergency services in a strike over their conditions of service. For more than a week, out patient services at state-run hospitals have been closed because of the dispute. The government says it has put in place plans for urgent cases, including bringing in private doctors. BBC has more:

The BBC’s Sammy Darko in Ghana says hospital managers, who are also doctors, have also been told to deal with emergencies. Patients currently in hospitals are being treated by doctors but new ones are being turned away, he says. Doctors have threatened to discharge all patients and resign en masse if the dispute is not resolved by 13 August.

Our correspondent says the battle between doctors and the communication team for the governing NDC party has been playing out on social media. Amongst the insults have been salary comparisons – although the doctors are not demanding an increase in their monthly pay. A senior doctor gets paid about $920 (£593) a month.

The striking doctors want free post-graduate medical education, better retirement packages and increases in clothing, fuel and maintenance allowances. Other demands include a request for free overseas healthcare for services not available in Ghana and the right to import vehicles into the country free of duty.