Ghanaian nurses withdraw their OPD services due to non payment of their arrears by government
Members of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) have withdrawn their services from the Out Patients Department (OPD) of every public health facility nationwide.
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According to reports, the main reason behind the nurses’ withdrawal of service is the non payment of their salary arrears by government. It was reported that over 2,000 nurses and midwives have not been paid their full salaries and other benefits in the last three years.
The guild have agitated in recent times over the non payment of their arrears to no avail. The nurses and midwives say all efforts to get the government to pay them all their outstanding salaries and benefits have been fruitless. They had given government and other stakeholders in the health sector an ultimatum to address issues confronting members. Their recent move has now made it clear that the nurses are not just issuing out empty threats to the government.
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Addressing a news conference in Accra earlier this month, the GRNA president, Kwaku Asante-Krobea, said that since the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure, nurses and midwives are the only core health care professionals who have not embarked on any strike.
He had explained that the association’s long patience on the issue is only due to their belief that it can resolve such issues through dialogue. But the GRNA who said they now believe otherwise, have decided to take matters into their hands.
Having commenced the strike today, Ghanaian nurses withdraw their services at OPDs in government hospitals. The association has however said that only emergency and maternity cases will be attended to.
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