The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) say its inability to migrate members of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) is due to the refusal of the GMA to join the other health sector associations to reach a consensus for a smooth migration. “The GMA, from the start of the process, indicated its unpreparedness to meet with the other groups to discuss and resolve issues concerning their migration. While the Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA), the Health Service Workers Union (HSWU) and the pharmacist group are willing to meet together with all others with the health sector, the GMA is against,” the commission said in a report submitted to the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare. The submission of the report followed a call by the National Executive Council of the GMA on its members to lay down their tools from October 8, 2011 if they were not migrated onto the SSSS by then. According to the GMA, the FWSC had delayed in migrating doctors onto the SSSS, thereby preventing the members of the association from enjoying the 20-per cent salary increment which the government had implemented across the board. However, the FWSC said it had always been its wish to complete the migration of health sector employees earlier. The commission said the refusal of the GMA to meet with the other health workers compelled the FWSC to resort to meeting the others separately, which was time consuming. It said another challenge was that the grade structure that was developed was intensively discussed with the management of the health sector in order to clear any perceived distortions and achieve fairness and equity. “Despite the acceptance by the management of the health sector of the grade structure, the GMA is contesting why some grades within the GRNA, specifically the Principal Nursing Officer, should be equated to the entry grade of a medical doctor,” the commission said. The FWSC said its position was that both professionals had their different hierarchical structure, along which they progressed, and that studies conducted and consultations with the management of the sector revealed that the two structures must definitely overlap at a certain point. Additionally, it said the GMA wanted the position of District Director of Medical Services abolished as a grade, and that individuals appointed to be district directors should go with their existing salaries and receive a top-up. That, the FWSC said, was contrary to the view of the health sector management because the Health Service Law created that grade and any health professional with a master's degree in Public Health was qualified to be appointed to the grade. Finally, the commission said it was unable to immediately migrate health sector employees onto the SSSS because of the rejection of the formula for computing the market premium by the GMA. It said once it had been established that the market premium was part of the process in migrating health sector employees, “it is pertinent for an agreement to be reached on the matter. “To successfully migrate health sector employees onto the SSSS, there is the need for all parties to come together and be ready to make the necessary concessions,” the FWSC said. In a related development, the GRNA said all health professionals, including the GMA, co-operated with the consultant and the FWSC, knowing that every salary administration was a process. However, the association said sometime along the line the GMA withdrew, with the excuse that it would not sit and negotiate together with the other health professionals and walked out of the meeting. A statement issued by the GRNA said in the meantime, “the others remained and continued with the negotiation, which became the final document that the GMA is contesting”.