A group of Nurses and Midwifes are threatening to embark on a strike action if government refuses to pay all their outstanding salary arrears by 24th August.
The group known as the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwifes claim government has failed to honour its promise of paying all their salaries and areas of between six and eighteen months respectively, almost a year after the group engaged the Ministry of Health over the issue.
A statement released by the group stated that the situation has left them with huge debts as a result of loans they have contracted from various banks.
“We have sacrificed enough to the extent that loan agencies are now chasing and threatening to arrest us for failure to refund the loans we secured for our accommodation and transportation to care for our lovely patients. This harassment cannot be tolerated anymore, while the government also owes us.”
“As a country our health is our “wealth” and must be a concern to all. How on earth can nurses work for six months to twenty months, and paid only three months salaries, and others without salaries at all. Do we want Nurses to smile with patients in such situation of financial constraints?”
The group added that the vast nurses to patients ratio in Ghana, exerts much work load on them hence affecting the effectiveness of the care they deliver.
“We therefore humbly call on government to post all our junior colleagues nurses and midwifes in order to close the gap to ensure quality healthcare in Ghana. Paying our areas and posting of junior nurses and midwifes must be done before 23rd August, failure to ensure this will force us to take an action that may hinder health delivery in our beloved nation”.
The group is made up of Registered General Nurses, (RGN) Registered Midwifes (RM), Registered Mental Nurses (RMN) Registered Community (RCN), Enrolled Nurses (EN), Health Assistants, and Certified Community Nurses (CCN) across the country.
By: Kasapafmonline.com/Ghana
