The Local President of the Ghana Federation of Allied Health Professionals, Dr. Francis Kwakye Antwi, and over 1,500 allied health professionals at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital are demanding autonomy and a director to oversee their department, separate from medical doctors.
This demand is not new, as they have been seeking this change for over 50 years.
Addressing the media at Korle-Bu on July 31, 2024, Dr. Antwi emphasized the urgency of their request, citing the hospital’s 100th anniversary as an opportune moment for recognition.
“We have developed ourselves as professionals, but we have been denied this opportunity for over fifty years now and counting. And now thankfully, Korle Bu is hundred years and as we are celebrating our hundred years all we are asking for is that you give us our freedom, and this freedom we are demanding it now, not tomorrow,” Antwi said.
Join our WhatsApp Channel for more news
The professionals have set a deadline of midnight on August 1, 2024, for the Management to advertise the director position. If their demands are not met, they will withdraw the outpatient department (OPD) services on Friday, August 2, and embark on a nationwide strike on Monday, August 5.
“If the Management and the Board do not advertise the position of director of allied health today and by close to midnight today and they don’t advertise on Thursday, that is tomorrow, we are going to start with work to rule which will aggravate into a full-blown strike and the second of August which is Friday withdraw OPD services and then Monday nationwide strike,” he added.
Despite previous attempts to engage with the Management and Board, the professionals feel ignored, leading them to take industrial action.
Unfortunately, the chief executive officer of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Opoku Ampomah, has declined to comment on the matter.
