KATH junior doctors boycott consulting rooms
Junior doctors at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) yesterday withdrew their services to demand the payment of their salaries which have been in arrears for nine months.
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Some of the doctors locked their consulting rooms and refused to attend to patients.
Not even pleas by patients and the management of the hospital could compel them to rescind their decision.
The non-payment of their salaries, according to some of the doctors, had compelled them to go to friends and relatives for financial support.
The most affected unit of the hospital following the strike is the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department.
No way
A visit to the hospital yesterday showed that some patients had become frustrated and sought attention elsewhere.
At the KATH Polyclinic, some of the doctors locked up their rooms, as pregnant women, some of whom had travelled long distances for medical care, wept and pleaded for help.
Not even the plea from a bleeding eight-month pregnant woman, Margaret Adjei, from Tafo Pankrono could compel the doctors, led by their president, Dr Michael Boateng, to rescind their decision.
Plight
Dr Boateng told the Daily Graphic that the plight of doctors was pathetic because some of them had, for the past nine months, been going to their parents for financial support.
“This is embarrassing and frustrating and our action should be understood in that context,” he said.
Meeting
The management of KATH, led by the Chief Executive Officer, Dr Joseph Akpaloo, met with the leadership of the junior doctors last Sunday to try and convince the doctors to rescind their decision after they had given notification of the intended strike.
Initially, the junior doctors were said to have agreed with the management, but they changed their minds after they had consulted their national executive.
Dr Boateng said the junior doctors were prepared to go back to work once their needs were met.