The Administrator of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Sekondi, Michael Danso has said the hospital will from today, Monday, 3rd February 2020 transfer most surgical cases to the 37 Military Hospital if the striking Anesthetists continue their strike.
The administrator of the main referral hospital in the Western Region told Citi News all the eight Anesthetists have been on strike since Saturday.
He said the specialist who can do their work cannot handle all surgical operations, thus the Effia-Nkwanta hospital will transfer these cases to the 37 Military Hospital if the former is overwhelmed with surgical cases.
“We have eight certified anesthetists now at the hospital at the moment and on Friday, 31st January 2020, until the industrial action, the news came a bit late so they worked. So it was on Saturday we were told they have embarked on full strike action but there were no surgeries on that day…Actually we have an anesthesiologist with us so she can fill in for them but she is the only one so she cannot run the entire shift.
“So in the morning, she can help out for the doctors to carry out their operations but then when she closes and there is an emergency, people will have to be transferred. Usually, such cases are referred to either Interbeton Hospital or Korle-Bu but in this case, perhaps we will have to refer to 37 Military Hospital where such actions usually do not occur”.
The Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anesthetists is meeting with the government today, 3rd February 2020 to address the situation.
Background
Members of the Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anesthetists’ laid down their tools on Friday, January 31, 2020.
The decision to declare an indefinite strike, according to the group was to protest the refusal of the Medical and Dental Council to rescind its decision to change the group’s name to Physician Assistants.
The association further stated that the Medical and Dental Council’s approach of introducing a new curriculum for their training in a bid to change the already existing Bachelor of Science Anesthesia to Bachelor of Science Physician Assistants was a clear violation of the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act 857 (Act 2013).