Government tackles grievances of junior doctors

Junior doctors at the Korle bu Teaching Hospital on Wednesday said they have suspended the industrial action they embarked upon last month because some of their grievances have been met.

Prior to the strike the doctors said after one month after being employed they had not been given any appointment letters, and have neither undergone any medical examination nor received laboratory materials to facilitate their work.

In an interview with the GNA in Accra, on whether all their grievances have been met, Dr Oswald Tetteh, spokesperson for the doctors said they now have their appointment letters.

“We have always sorted out issues concerning our welfare as well as Identity Cards and we have therefore decided to go back to give our quota to the nation,” he said.

He explained that though not all their grievances have been met, they are working on humanitarian grounds and accepted to go back to work coupled with the fact that some senior colleagues helped to resolve the issues.

“Management has now put in place measures to solve some of the problems,” he said.

The doctors said they are not asking for anything extra ordinary but what was due them.

According to the spokesperson when doctors demand what is due them the public tend to say they are insensitive.

Dr Tetteh noted that there should be fairness in the sharing of the national cake and equal opportunity for all persons, since unfairness encourages brain drain.

Last month junior doctors at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and other health centres across the country declared a strike due to what they described as wanton disregard of their welfare.

They claimed they had also not received their identification cards and also kicked against the monthly GHc200.00 feeding fees given them saying they wanted a raise.

The 143 doctors said could not live under those conditions and decided to suspend their services until their demands were met.