We won't accept anything contrary to arrangements- GMA

Accra, May 27, GNA- The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) on Sunday issued a warning to government not to go contrarily to arrangements made in terms of the health sector salary structure.

The Association said it sighted a document that proposed a review of the structure to the disadvantage of medical doctors with disregard to the exhaustive job description and evaluation exercise that was undertaken by the health sector.

The document titled "Public Health Sector Pay Reform Restructured Pay Scale" was said to be a combination of pay scale one and pay scale two that seems to slash the salaries of doctors. These were contained in communiqu=E9 signed by Dr. Francis Adu-Ababio, President of the GNA and Dr. Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, Assistant General Secretary of the association issued at the end of its third National Executive Council Meeting, in Accra at the weekend and made available to the GNA.

The communiqu=E9 said the pay structure seems to slash the salaries of doctors and explained that the document did not take into consideration the views of the GMA and that the contents would be resisted by legitimate means.

The GMA said: "We are telling our employers to be aware of the consequences if any attempt is made to implement the sighted document." The communiqu=E9 noted that in view of previous experiences where so-called harmless documents that adopted unilateral positions on issues bordering on salaries and conditions of service of doctors ended up as full blown implemented policies, "it is not dismissive to view the sighted document with all seriousness." The GMA also expressed concern about the chronic peculiar challenges facing House Officers, especially at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

The communiqu=E9 mentioned some of the problems as lack of accommodation, feeding, late payment of salaries and the two years of horsemanship training that needed to be reversed or improved upon. The GMA said apart from Korle-Bu and Komfo Anokye teaching hospitals that took bulk of these House Officers, there was the need to upgrade most of the Teaching hospitals in the country to meet the required standards and also to take pressure off these hospitals. The communiqu=E9 noted that most of the teaching hospitals lacked facilities and personnel to carry out the houseman ship training therefore putting pressure on the limited ones.

The Association announced the setting up of a GMA sub- committee to comprehensively review the challenges facing House Officers in Ghana. It said this would enable the association make representations and recommendations to the management of the teaching hospitals and to the Ghana Medical and Dental Council on ways of addressing the problem. The GMA also appealed to drivers and other road users to exercise the greatest caution when using the road and called on the police to rigidly enforce road traffic regulations.