Audio By Carbonatix
After four months of negotiations, government has completed conditions of service with doctors following a crippling strike in June which lasted for more than three weeks.
Doctors working in public hospitals across the country will from January next year enjoy their first ever documented conditions of service since the Ghana Health Service was formed in 1996.
Government and the Ghana Medical Association have refused to reveal the content of the signed document which was signed yesterday.
Government had said it was keen to clinch a deal with the doctors and make history as the political administration that handed doctors a codified set of conditions of service.
The document is expected to properly spell out both financial and non-financial components of their engagement, as well as improve service delivery.
The GMA embarked on a strike which saw doctors abandon hospitals for over three-weeks. They first withdrew services to Out-Patient Department followed by a withdrawal of emergency services.
They also threatened to resign en masse.
Except for a two-week mortuary fees scrapped off for a dead doctor, they claim there are no codified conditions of service. Even when their spouses or children get sick they are made to pay for the expenses involved in taking care of them, they claimed.
They therefore demanded conditions of service and proposed, among other things a 40% increase in their basic salary as accommodation allowance as well as 100, 90 and 80 gallons of fuel per month for the different levels of the profession.
They also requested 50% of basic salary per month as professional allowance, a 30% of their basic salary every month as clothing allowance.
Some government officials described the demands as outrageous. President Mahama also vowed not to authorise payments outside the budget.
Two of Ghana's ex-presidents- Jerry Rawlings and John Kufuor- as well as the Asantehene all intervened and asked the doctors to return to work.
The doctors resumed work after repeated assurances from government that codified conditions of service will be signed in no time.
Latest Stories
-
Nigeria police confirm mass church abductions after previous denial
1 hour -
Mahama champions Accra Reset at World Economic Forum meeting today
1 hour -
Palace striker Mateta tells club he wants to leave
2 hours -
Liverpool top English club in Deloitte Money League
2 hours -
Lopez double helps Barcelona defeat Slavia Prague
2 hours -
Slot praises Salah return on important night for both
2 hours -
Why media’s backstage heroes deserve the spotlight
2 hours -
Life of veteran Ugandan opposition leader in danger, wife says
2 hours -
Trump credit card plan would be a ‘disaster’, JP Morgan boss warns
4 hours -
Bezos’ Blue Origin announces satellite rival to Musk’s Starlink
4 hours -
Blockbusters, battles and Brits: Hollywood gears up for Oscar nominations
5 hours -
Seven more countries agree to join Trump’s Board of Peace
5 hours -
Hollywood isn’t to blame for pushing unrealistic beauty standards, says Ashton Kutcher
5 hours -
Taylor Swift makes history as she joins Songwriters Hall of Fame
5 hours -
Blake Lively called Justin Baldoni ‘a clown’ in text messages
5 hours
