Dr. Eugene Dordoye
The demand by nurses of the Ankaful Psychiatirc Hospital for the Ministry of Health to sack the director, Dr Eugene Dordoye, over what they term ‘maladministration and gross disrespect to subordinates,’ has been met.
The ministry, after an emergency meeting with Dr. Dordoye in Accra yesterday, reached a consensus to relief him of his post to enable him undergo a human management skills training.
“It was at a meeting that this came out. Dr. Dordoye was with us at the meeting and we all agreed that he should give way for another person to act on his behalf…As time goes on, another person will take over from him,” Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Health Ministry, Robert Cudjoe, said.
Mr. Cudjoe, however, was not certain if Dr. Dordoye would be sent back to the hospital after his training or be reassigned to another health facility.
This decision follows the latest strike by nurses and physician assistants at the facility, demanding Dr. Dordoye’s appointment to be terminated over claims he disrespects them.
The staff of the hospital maintained that they could no longer work with him, saying they would only resume work after he had been sacked.
According to them, Dr. Dordoye’s presence at the facility posed a danger to their mental and physical health.
The spokesperson of the Ankaful Psychiatric nurse’s group, Emmanuel Ofori, explained, “Dr. Eugene Dordoye’s presence in the hospital is a psychological stress to us. So we are notifying our immediate supervisor, who is the Mental Health Authority CEO, to take action. The nurses are not coming back to work until the hospital’s director is removed.”
Genesis
The upheaval started after an orientation schedule for newly recruited staff (nurses and others) was perceived as punishment for nurses in particular.
According to Dr. Dordoye, “The misconception was created because the nurse manager made an error on the orientation schedule she signed. The nurses were to spend a week each in some departments such as kitchen and laundry, which were supposed to be a day each [or six working hours.”
He said the Psychiatric Nurses Group, however, asked to be withdrawn from the schedule because some aspects were outside their job description.
But the nurse manager, after a subsequent dialogue, admitted that “it was an error on her part that she labeled it ‘rotation’ instead of ‘orientation’ and those departments were only for a day or six working hours and not a week each.”
Amidst all this, Dr Dordoye said the management of the hospital felt the confusion over the orientation schedule was “just a façade for other grievances.”
Dr. Dordoye, citing other issues that might have fueled the agitation by the staff, noted, “Physicians Assistants and Nurse Practitioners were acting as doctors formerly and I requested they work per their job descriptions.”
He also said he empowered an auditor to streamline expenditure and ensure accountability.
“These and many other measures I took to improve quality of work, which has improved mental healthcare measured by significantly increased IGF and decreased mortality and morbidity, but has courted hatred for me by bringing these changes,” he said.
Dr. Dordoye went ahead to issue a letter to the hospital staff apologizing for his approach in trying to reform the hospital and pledged to improve his management of the facility.
“I apologize unreservedly to all staff of Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital who have been hurt by my approach, the CEO, MHA [Mental Health Authority], Central Regional Minister, Health Minister and all others affected and I will surely improve and manage the change better than I have done in the past going forward,” he said.
But the hospital staff, who say they had not seen any improvement in the director’s conduct, this week embarked on a strike demanding his immediate removal before they would resume work.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri