Doctors and nurses at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) have suspended their industrial action, following a meeting with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

This information was disclosed in a press release issued on Tuesday, June 9, by the Komfo Anokye Doctors' Association (KADA). The statement emphasized that the suspension takes effect immediately.

According to the statement, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the KATH Board, hospital management and other key stakeholders have pledged to resolve the issue.

"While KADA remains committed to ensuring that the issues that occasioned the strike are fully resolved, we have carefully considered the potential impact of the prolonged action on patient care and public health.

“The safety and well-being of patients and the broader public interest remain central to our responsibilities, and these have informed our decision to suspend the action and continue the dialogue," the statement said. Doctors and nurses at KATH hospital laid down their tools on Saturday, June 6, to protest the suspension of the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Paa Kwesi Baidoo.

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

Reacting to the industrial action, the Health Workers Union of the Trades Union Congress (TUC-Ghana), KATH branch, issued a statement backing the stance of the medical staff, further complicating efforts to restore normal operations.

But 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.