Call Off Strike � Interior Minister Appeals To Doctors

The Minister of Interior, Mark Woyongo has appealed to the doctors on strike to rescind their strike and return to work while negotiations on their conditions of service continue. �Let me add my voice to the several appeals to the doctors in our public hospitals to return to work while the negotiations go on since life once lost cannot be replaced,� he said. Mr. Woyongo made the appeal after a visit to the Police Hospital in Accra to acquaint himself with the impact of the strike on the facility. Mr. Woyongo observed that the private hospitals are feeling the brunt of the strike by the doctors. Members of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) on July 30 laid down their tools to protest government�s inability to provide them with conditions of service. They have resolved not to return to work until their demands are met. Following the strike, the Police Hospital have asked its medical staff on leave to resume work to help deal with the increased number of patients that patronize the facility. The hospital has also adopted some measures including erecting tents to accommodate more patients who visit the facility to access healthcare. Mark Woyongo further commended the Police Hospital for adopting such measures. �I know that many more people will be coming here as a result of the strike but I�m satisfied that adequate preparations have been made to take in more people, and I want to commend the director and staff of the hospital for the sacrifices they are making to save lives.� �Some of the staff, I�m told, have had to work 24 hours and I want to commend them for the sacrifices they are making. We will also be looking at ways of motivating them during this period. So I will be talking with the director and IGP to see how best we can motivate this doctors and nurses who are doing overtime to save the lives of our brothers and sisters,� he added.