Health sector workers assured of decent conditions of service
The government has assured all health sector workers of decent conditions of service before the end of June this year.
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The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, gave the assurance at the opening of a two-day workshop to validate a draft condition of service document for health sector workers in Accra.
The workshop, organised by the Ministry of Health, brought together staff of the ministry, the Ghana Health Service and other stakeholders to review and fine-tune the draft document.
It was also aimed at deepening the understanding of the responsibilities of the employer, employees and the Ministry of Health.
After the validation, the draft document, developed by the Ministry of Health about 10 years ago, is expected to provide a clear policy guidelines for the provision of conditions of service for approximately 90,000 employees in the health sector.
Mr Iddrisu observed that, the absence of a condition of service document for health sector workers, which he described as a major employment anomaly, was a matter of serious concern to the government.
The government, he said, remained committed to correcting the anomaly.
When that was done, the minister indicated, it would be the first time in many years that Ghana was recognising the critical role played by health sector workers in national development.
He expressed optimism that approved conditions of service would also serve as motivation for the workers to give of their best in the discharge of their duties.
Health Minister
The Minister of Health, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, said the ministry was currently saddled with a myriad of challenges which had been compounded by the recent fire outbreak at the Central Medical Stores in Tema.
He attributed the challenges to the lack of clear cut policies and systems in the sector and stated that the conditions of service developed for the workers would apply to all agencies under the ministry.
GMA President
The President of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr Poku Adusei, who chaired the opening ceremony, expressed the hope that the initiative would yield the desired results.
According to him, apart from the generic conditions of service developed by the Public Services Commission, the health sector had been without a peculiar conditions of service since the Ministry of Health was established more than 8 years ago.