Spokesperson of the New Patriotic Party says government's decision to rely, albeit temporarily, on retired doctors should and cannot be the solution to the strike action that has left the health sector completely on its knees.

Mustapha Hamid says these retired doctors who he dscribed as "stale" must have left active service for a number of years may not be abreast with the modern trends in the field and cannot therefore be relied upon to solve the problem.

Even though he believes they may mitigate the impact of the doctors' strike action, the spokesperson would rather government takes the bold step in addressing the grievances of the striking doctors.

The doctors have since July 29 declared a strike action in protest over the absence of a codified conditions of service.

They presented a proposal detailing what they would have government provide them as part of their conditions service.

But some government spokespersons have described the proposal as outrageous.

The president on various platforms have described the doctors' strike as illegal and has directed them to call off the strike and return to the negotiation table.

He argued if government were to accede to the demands of the doctors, it will throw the IMF-controlled economy out of gear.

Government has since taken steps to stop paying the doctors for the period they have been on strike.

In a reaction, the NPP flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo said the president cannot hide behind IMF conditionalities to renege on his responsibilities.

"I would respectfully tell the President of the Republic that Government cannot hide behind the IMF bailout programme to frustrate these important negotiations," he said in a statement.

His spokesperson agrees with the comments by Akufo-Addo.

Mustapha Hamid does not understand why government, having already provided a counter-proposal to the demands of the doctors, will turn around and bring another proposal which is worse off than the one they initially provided.

He said for the government to focus on making the doctors look bad in the eyes of the public is not the way to go.