Korle-Bu strike delays salary payment of staff

Accra, June 20, GNA - The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital is facing difficulty in mobilising funds to pay about 30 per cent of its staff, who are directly paid from revenue generated by the Hospital.

The difficulty arose from the strike actions by health workers.

"We now face a major challenge in paying the salaries of more than 1,000 workers, who are paid with monies accruing from charges received from patients, who visit the hospital", Mr Mustapha Salifu, Public Relations Officer, told the GNA on Tuesday.

He said as a result of last month's strike by the doctors alone, salaries of the workers were delayed because the numerous patients, who used to visit the hospital daily, had reduced.

He said one department which used to receive about a 1,000 visits from which it recorded between 15 million and 20 million cedis daily now receive not more than two million cedis a day.

Mr Salifu said the situation was affecting those workers, who often complained bitterly over the delay of salaries anytime "they meet me".

He said the impact of the strike was so serious and pleaded with the nurses and other allied health workers to come back to work while effort were made to resolve the issues.

"We really appreciate their concerns and share in their hardships but they should consider the important services they render to the people and resume duty early to avert any negative effects and inconveniences being faced by patients and the whole nation", he pleaded.

A doctor at the Child Health Department of the Hospital told GNA on anonymity that though other workers had not reported thus making their work difficult, the doctors were coping with the situation for now.

"We just have to do things like picking folders and look for papers for patients. But when we can not help, we prepare new folders for patients", he said, assuring that out patients were being attended to at present.

Meanwhile a few people, who had come for review, were seen on the Hospital premises.