Operations at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, popularly known as Ridge Hospital, have been severely disrupted following a strike action by members of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA).

According to the Medical Director of the facility, Dr Leslie Issah-Zakaria, the absence of GRNMA members has left critical departments without staff, forcing doctors to take on additional roles beyond their normal duties.

“The nurses in the hospital belong to various associations. The majority of them are part of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association(GRNMA), and unfortunately, they are the ones on strike,” he explained.

According to him, the strike has left several key departments, including the Outpatient Departments (OPDs), emergency units, antenatal clinics, theatres, and labour wards without nurses or midwives at post.

“Presently, we don’t have nurses at the various OPDs, we don’t have nurses at post. The emergency unit is in various parts, the part that receives new patients, we don’t have the nurses at post.

"The theatres where we perform emergency procedures, we don’t have nurses at post. The antenatal clinics where we attend to pregnant women, we don’t have midwives at post. And the labour wards where pregnant women come when they are about to deliver, we don’t have nurses at post,” he said.

He added that the absence of the nurses has forced doctors to take on the nursing duties which is placing extra strain on hospital staff.

“The challenge we are facing is that doctors have to do some of the work of the nurses. We don’t have rotation nurses supporting us because they cannot work unsupervised, so they are not available,” he said.

He clarified that rotation nurses, who are like national service personnel, are required to work under supervison , which is not possible during the strike.

“The rotation nurses are like national service people who are supposed to work under supervision. If we bring them alone here, it means they are going to work without supervision because their bosses are on strike. So unfortunately for us, they are uncomfortable to work unsupervised.”

Dr Adam-Zakaria described the situation as a strain on hospital operations, with doctors becoming overstretched.

“What it means is that the doctors are overburdened. And the nurses of the other unions are not many, so we don’t even feel their presence in trying to reduce the impact of the withdrawal of service by the GRNMA,”

Despite these challenges, no major security incidents have been reported at the hospital.

“Fortunately for us, we’ve not had any security challenges yet. We have a police post in the hospital so at least our police are close by and if there are any issues we can easily count on them to assist us,” he noted.

GRNMA embarked on a strike action on Monday June 2, to demand payment of their outstanding allowances following unsuccessful discussions with the ministry

"We negotiated our conditions of service. It was signed, sealed, and delivered, but it is not seeing implementation...and all that we are asking the Ministry of Finance is to approve the signed commission of service for implementation," President of the GRNMA, Dr David Tenkorang Twum, told the media.

In response, the Ministry of Health on May 30th, met all Associations in the nursing fraternity, including the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Union of Professional Nurses and Midwives (UPNMG), Ghana Registered Midwives Association (GRMA), National Association of Registered Midwives (NARM-G), Psychiatric Nurses Association, Ghana (PAPNG) and the Nurses and Midwives Educators Society.

During the meeting, all parties except the GRNMA accepted the sector minister's proposal for a three (3) member team with a representation each from the Nurses group, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Health to see to the finality of the matter.

GNRMA members have withdrawn from their posts, but to ensure that the general public continues to access quality healthcare, the Health Ministry has instructed all hospital managers, particularly Directors of Nursing Services and their Deputies, to be present at work at all times during the period of the industrial action.

Also, the ambulance service is expected to remain on standby in every district to support emergency situations promptly. Additionally, all health facilities are to establish coordinating structures that can effectively manage emergencies and maintain continuous communication with ambulance services to ensure a swift response when needed.

Furthermore, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, along with Chief Executive Officers and Medical Directors of Teaching Hospitals, is required to provide daily reports to the Acting Chief Director on the status of healthcare service delivery within their respective institutions.

To manage the anticipated surge in patient numbers due to ongoing industrial action, the Ministry of Health has pledged to collaborate with quasi-government health facilities. This partnership aims to ease the pressure on public health institutions and ensure continuous care delivery.

Ongoing monitoring of the situation will be conducted by the Ministry to ensure that all necessary logistics and resources are made available to mitigate the impact of the strike.

The Ministry of Health has expressed its appreciation to the nurses and midwives who have chosen not to engage in the industrial action while appealing to the leadership of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) to reconsider their stance in the interest of public health and service continuity.

However, the GRNMA remains resolute in its decision to intensify the strike with plans to withdraw both outpatient and emergency services across the country.