Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital Staff on Sit Down Strike

Nurses and Staff of the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital, on Thursday began an indefinite sit-down strike to register their displeasure with the Ministry of Health for refusing to replace their Director as requested earlier.

The staff, on October 20, this year, petitioned the Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, to remove Dr Dordoye as the Director of the hospital, on the grounds that his administrative style was oppressive thereby psychologically traumatising the staff, among other allegations of mismanagement.

The workers were furious over the refusal of the Health Minster to sack the Medical Director of the facility, who they accused of being corrupt and having poor human relations.

Nurses abandoned their inmates as they sat idle when the Ghana News Agency visited the hospital on Thursday morning at about 1030 hours.

Mr Melvin Ali, the Secretary for the Psychiatric Nurses at the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital, in an interview with the media said, they had also suspended services to patients.

“As at yesterday, we had about 11 patients discharged, eight have gone home and the rest are waiting for their relatives to come for them. We will come to work, write our names but we will not do anything until our hospital director is removed from the hospital,” he said.

The workers were also calling for the release of the findings of a fact-finding committee set up by the Mental Health Authority (MHA) to investigate allegations against Dr Dordoye.

The irate staff described the attitude of their director as appalling and a great disincentive to the provision of timely and accurate healthcare services to the inmates.

The nurses who are members of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association, also accused him of abuse of human rights against them by trampling upon their fundamental human rights.

Mr Ali alleged that Dr Dordoye also made several derogatory remarks about the staff, particularly the nurses adding “He accuses staff wrongly and demeans us in the presence of student nurses, patients and their relatives. “The strike is against our wish because of its implications on the inmates, but we are pushed to the wall by the prevailing circumstances at the facility to do so” he added

They said the late apology of Dr Dordoye could not be accepted as it was an after-thought and a sign of bad faith, only meant to have prevented their intended strike.

Source: GNA