Restore industrial harmony at Korle Bu
The industrial atmosphere at Ghana’s premier hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, has been disturbed.
This is as a result of a tussle between the management and board on one side and a section of the workers, led by the Senior Staff Association (SSA) on the other, due to the alleged mismanagement of the health facility.
In recent times, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has been in the news on a number of occasions for the wrong reasons. Besides the agitation for the better management of the health facility, some of the workers have been up in arms against the board because of some recruitment they have made.
It has even been suggested in certain quarters that Korle Bu is too big to lend itself to efficient and effective management and that it should be broken into units.
Perhaps the health facility’s autonomous status which prevents its direct supervision by the Ghana Health Service has made the teaching hospital’s administration too detached from the central authority charged with health administration in the country.
But the autonomy granted to the teaching hospitals was done to break down the bureaucracy in the civil service that has led to the slowing down of operations.
The Daily Graphic will not call for the heads of public servants because of mere allegations, some of which can be flimsy but when there is the tendency for workers to be consistently crying wolf, it will be important for leaders of the state to examine the claims being made with dispatch.
The claims and counter-claims should not be allowed to feed into the perception of some members of the public that Korle Bu workers have no sense of patriotism and feeling for the many patients who seek health care there every day.
It is no secret that Korle Bu boasts the best health professionals in the country and even the sub-region and despite the challenges, it is the health facility that people with life-threatening health conditions turn to as their saviour.
The Daily Graphic appeals to the government to take steps to resolve the impasse between the workers and their management as soon as possible to ensure a peaceful industrial atmosphere for the delivery of efficient health care to the people.
The government should go further to find the resources to fix other challenges such as inadequate water supply, lack of health consumables and the many structures at the hospital, which are in a state of disrepair.
We think the conditions of service of the workers must also be looked at as a way of finding holistic solutions to the challenges and ensuring that workers of all grades at the hospital have job satisfaction.
