Ankaful: Patients stranded as nurses reject Minister’s intervention

The current impasse at the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital has deepened as the aggrieved workers have served notice they will turn down an invitation by the Health Minister aimed at addressing their concerns.

The nurses on Thursday, November 23, began a sit down strike to press home their demand for the removal of the Medical Director of the facility, Dr. Eugene Dordoye.

The nurses accuse Dr. Dordoye of disrespect and exhibiting poor human relations.

This was after they accused government of failing to act on an ultimatum to sack the embattled medical director by Wednesday.

The nurses explain their sit down strike will continue for three days and will subsequently be followed by total withdrawal of service on Monday.

Patients and their relatives who thronged the facility for treatment on Thursday were left stranded as nurses failed to attend to them.

The deputy head of the Facility Godwin Pongo who went round to assess the impact of the strike appealed to the workers to reconsider their decision to cater for patients.

The Health Minister Dr. Kwaku Agyeman Manu on Thursday announced that government was concerned about the developments at the hospital and has vowed to resolve the impasse by Tuesday.

“I believe we can resolve these matters, it is not a matter of service conditions issues, it is a matter of personality clash with the Chief Executive of the place…we will meet with them and I believe we can resolve the matter amicably.”

But the nurses are adamant and say they will not honour an invite by the Minister to solve the impasse.

Public Relations Officer of the Psychiatric nurses group, Emmanuel Ofori in an interview with Starr News said they have decided not to honour the invitation from the health minister until the medical director is sacked.

“We were invited by the Health Minister but as it stands now the executive has decided and they said we shouldn’t go and the health minister should [rather] come.”