Strike at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has entered its fourth day despite mounting calls for an immediate end to the industrial action.

Several patients who have traveled from different parts of the country have been rendered helpless as doctors and nurses refuse to attend to them.

The ongoing strike by health workers at the facility is in protest against the suspension of the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Paa Kwesi Baidoo.

On Friday, June 5, the Ministry of Health suspended the CEO for two weeks to allow for an independent investigation into the temporary closure of the hospital's Accident and Emergency Centre, to ensure accountability and clarity regarding the decision to shut down the 37-bed emergency facility.

The Health Ministry, through an official letter from the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, to the hospital’s Board, announced the CEO’s suspension, citing Section 36(1) of the Ghana Health Service and Teaching Hospitals Act, 1996 (Act 526).

Section 36(1) of the Ghana Health Service and Teaching Hospitals Act, 1996 (Act 526) places a clear limitation on the powers of Teaching Hospital Boards; they cannot take decisions or perform functions that contradict directives issued by the Minister of Health or the Ghana Health Service Council.

The Ministry has also appealed to health professionals at the hospital to return to duty, warning that the disruption is affecting vulnerable patients who rely on the facility for critical care.

However, doctors and nurses at KATH are reportedly maintaining their position, leaving large numbers of patients stranded at the OPD.

JOY NEWS’ report from the hospital described scenes of confusion as patients waited for hours without being attended to.Meanwhile, the Health Workers Union of the Trades Union Congress (TUC-Ghana), KATH branch, has issued a statement backing the stance of the medical staff, further complicating efforts to restore normal operations.

Authorities have yet to indicate when full services are expected to resume, as pressure mounts on all sides to resolve the impasse and restore healthcare delivery at the facility.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has noted that the decision to suspend the CEO wasn’t taken overnight. In a press statement, it added that the move was taken in the interest of institutional accountability, patient safety, and the need to uphold administrative discipline within the health sector.

Part of the statement read, “The decision to suspend the CEO of KATH, who is an appointee of HE the President, John Dramani Mahama, was carefully considered and taken in the interest of institutional accountability, patient safety, and the need to uphold administrative discipline within the health sector.”

Background

On Wednesday, June 3, the Health Ministry summoned the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr Paa Kwesi Baidoo, over a notice of congestion at the hospital’s Accident and Emergency (A&E) Centre, which has led to a growing number of referrals from other medical facilities.

However, following widespread reports of the situation, the Health Ministry issued a query to the CEO of the Kumasi-based health facility to explain what it described as an attempt to disregard the President’s directive to hospitals not to turn away emergency cases.

In response to the Health Ministry’s query to the KATH CEO, the Komfo Anokye Doctors’ Association (KADA), in a rejoinder dated June 4, defended the CEO, describing the move as knee-jerk.

The Association urged authorities to focus on addressing the systemic challenges confronting the hospital rather than assigning blame.

“We are therefore concerned that the issuance of a query to the Chief Executive Officer appears to be a knee-jerk response to a crisis rather than addressing the underlying systemic challenges that precipitated the situation,” parts of the statement read.

The Association dismissed claims that patients were denied treatment, stating that management's decision to redirect some cases through other health facilities was necessary to prevent overcrowding and avoid risking patients' lives.

“Allowing more patients into an already overstretched emergency facility would have compromised quality care and endangered lives.

“Management’s decision to liaise with nearby hospitals and temporarily redirect patients was a responsible measure aimed at ensuring patient safety and continuity of care, rather than a refusal to provide healthcare services,” the statement added.

Consequently, KADA urged that efforts to protect patient safety deserve recognition and called on authorities to avoid making premature judgments without a proper review of available reports.

“The healthcare professionals of KATH believe that leaders who take difficult but necessary decisions in the interest of patient safety should be supported and engaged constructively rather than publicly subjected to disciplinary processes without a comprehensive review of the prevailing circumstances,” the statement continued.