The acting Public relations officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital has said the industrial action by the Health Service Workers Union of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has affected the logistics supply of essential medical materials to the various units of the hospital.
Patients on admission who needed critical tests done have had to visit private facilities for most of the services since Monday.
The Acting PRO of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Misboa Mohammed, said the situation is affecting revenue mobilization and the sanitary condition of the hospital.
He said “the hospital is actually losing a lot of revenue due to the strike because we are unable to register new clients and existing clients too really need certain services. Such as ideological and laboratory investigations are being asked to move out of the hospital to access such care and this actually is affecting the revenue generation of the hospital”
He went on to say that, “Again we have had to cancel cases at the theatre. Especially due to the absence of these employees”
Mohammed further revealed that other health workers in the hospital are emotionally stressed out due to the extra work they had to undertake in the hospital since logistics supply is fall.
“Most of the staff who I post are equally getting some effects of the absence of their colleagues. Because if they were there some other activities that they would undertake will relieve them of some of the stresses. They stress themselves in other to undertake some of those activities”
He added that “and the issue of logistics, sometimes you want to help but you want to protect yourself. You can’t touch anybody without the use of gloves, you will not want touch anybody even after using gloves. You may need to wash your hands under running water with soap. Disinfectants that you need to disinfect the various chemical areas also are not there”.
The Health Service Workers declared a strike after they claimed the government failed to meet an ultimatum to improve their working conditions.
A meeting held on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, between the Employment and Labour Ministry and the Health Service Workers Union resulted inconclusively.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Juliet Nyarko