The nurses and midwives during the protest march
Nurses and midwives at Asesewa Government Hospital in the Eastern Region have abandoned their post for a protest march to push government to improve their service of condition.
About 100 nurses and midwives stormed the streets of Upper Manya Krobo to demonstrate against the lack of protective uniforms, phony medical examinations, overbilling of patients and victimisation of health officers at the hospital.
In a petition submitted to management of the hospital, the nurses and midwives mentioned that “we can categorically state that we receive nothing in terms of motivation and for that matter coming to a stage where we have to pull heavens down before we are given uniforms/protective clothing is deeply regrettable.”
The nurses and midwives disclosed that apart from the lack of medical equipment, the hospital is charging fees for services covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
“We are with heavy hearts as we request your high office to intervene in a situation where insured clients who undergo surgeries e.g. hernia repair is charged to the tune of GH¢300 each and nothing less than GH¢100 each from insured clients who undergo a caesarean section.
These monies are not covered by receipt, worsening the financial burden of the clients. We have picked signals that doctors in the facility have a personal issue against nurses because of their refusal to aid such money collections that do not go to the hospital coffers,” the petition read.
They said formal communication to the management of the hospital has not yielded the needed results, hence the resort to demonstrate.
“We do not get a reply rather management seem to be targeting the association leadership and creating a picture as if they are engineers of tension forgetting that they are not responding to the issues are the cause of the tension in the facility.
We are just, kind and have sacrificed a lot even though unseen. We are not after any individual; we are only calling for fair play although we are slowly getting to a stage where we might not be compatible with some members of management who will make an attempt to downplay nursing in the hospital,” they added.