Health Minister Kwabina Mintah Kandoh has appealed to doctors at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) to call off their strike and sit down to discuss the way forward.
He appealed to the doctors while addressing a press conference in Accra on Thursday, April 24.
“My humble appeal to the medical doctors and health practitioners at Tamale Teaching Hospital is that I am the first person to take care of your interests. Therefore, let us call off the strike and let us all regroup and strategise the way forward. There are some of the things we can do with our internally generated funds, so please, let us confront the issues as they are,” he appealed.
The Doctors’ Association of Tamale Teaching Hospital declared an indefinite strike action with immediate effect on Wednesday, April 23.
This was contained in a press release issued in the late hours of April 23.
“Following our earlier press release today, the Doctors’ Association of Tamale Teaching Hospital held an emergency general assembly meeting at 12 noon. The outcome of this meeting is as below: That with immediate effect, all members of DATTH have proceeded on an indefinite suspension
of all emergency and outpatient services (General OPD, Antenatal clinic, Specialist clinic, Paediatrics OPD),” a part of the press release copied to the Minister of Health, Northern Regional Minister and President, Ghana Medical Association reads.
“Inpatient care shall continue for our clients currently on admission until they are safely discharged from the hospital,” they explained.
The leadership of DATTH made specific demands before they will resume duty.
“Our demands:
1. Unqualified apologies from the Minister of Health, Honorable Kwabena Mintah Akandoh and the Member of Parliament for Tamale North Constituency, Honorable Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini should be rendered to Dr. Valentine Akwulpwa, all doctors of the Tamale Teaching Hospital and
staff of the Accident and Emergency department.
2. We shall resume provision of emergency and outpatient services after we receive appropriate apologies.
3. The management of the hospital should ensure that the following are available in the short term for us to work effectively:
a) Constant flow of water through the taps for clinical work
b) Stable electricity supply in the hospital
c) Constant supply of oxygen
d) Provision of consumable items such as gloves, gauze, cotton, face-masks, cannulae, sutures, syringes, disinfectants, glucometer strips, plaster, etc.
e) Constant supply of reagents to ensure continuous availability of essential laboratory tests within the hospital
f) One hundred continuous vital signs monitoring devices for all high dependency units in the hospital
g) Four ventilators at the accident and emergency department
h) Four ventilators at the intensive care unit
i) Two ventilators at the pediatric emergency ward
j) Two ventilators at the neonatal intensive care unit
k) Two ventilators at the maternal intensive care unit
l) Two transport ventilators
m) Two transport incubators at the obstetrics and gynecology department
n) Service and repair the 1000L autoclave machines at the CSSD
4. That in the medium term, the following must be provided to facilitate our work:
a) An MRI scan machine that does not use helium
b) A CT scan machine that has an infusion pump
c) A mammography machine
d) A fluoroscopy machine
e) A C-arm machine at the main theater
f) ABG machines in all intensive care units of the hospital and one at the accident and emergency department
g) Two mobile x-ray machines
5. DATTH will continue to engage management to ensure that the aforementioned in points 3&4 are available for healthcare delivery. We shall advise ourselves if there is failure to achieve the above within the shortest possible time.
6. That should any of our members feel threatened at any point in the provision of services within the hospital, they shall immediately remove themselves from such hostile environment for their own safety.
7. That all media houses that released false and biased reportage of the incident at the TTH accident and emergency during the health minister’s visit on 22/04/2025 should render apologies to DATTH on their platforms. DATTH shall not engage these media houses until this is done.”
