Nurses at Manhyia hospital back at post after suspension of strike

Nurses and midwives at the Manhyia District Hospital in Kumasi have returned to work after they were directed to call off their strike.

The strike was to compel government to dismiss the Ashanti regional director of the National Service Scheme, Alex Opoku-Mensah who verbally assaulted a nurse at the hospital last week.

Activities at the hospital grounded to a halt on Friday following the strike.

Patients on admission were either referred to other facilities or discharged.

After calling off the strike following an engagement with the Ghana Health Service and other stakeholders, the nurses and midwives are back at post.

A nurse at the Manhyia District Hospital who is also the local chapter chairman for the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association for KMA, Joseph Obeng Tuffour is thus urging their patients to visit the facility for healthcare services since they have resumed.

He however added that they want the relevant authorities to address their concerns by 16th December to help bring finality to the issue.

“We went on a strike, which was communicated to the whole of Ghana. Throughout my communications, I have said patients are very important to us, and we do not wish to go on strike, but we hope things are resolved as quickly as possible, so we can all get back to post. Yesterday, our president together with all our other executives told us that, per consultations and some of the communications that they’ve received, we are supposed to come back to work. We respect every decision they make on our behalf because we know that they will work in such a way that will ensure that we are ok. Today I came here to ensure that my people are on duty,” he said.

Clients at the Manhyia District Hospital have also expressed excitement after the nurses and midwives resumed work.

They however want authorities to ensure the matter is addressed once and for all.

One of the patients at the facility, Paul Karl Mensah has been speaking to Citi News.

“We pray that it doesn’t happen again. We want the authorities to resolve this once and for all.”