Workers of premier hospital, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), are fuming over government's inability to resolve the salary disparity among staff that has been hanging on for the past 15 years without settlement. The Staff of the hospital alleged that the salary discrepancy, which has been affecting their families' up-keep over these years, has not seen any resolution on the side of the government. Speaking in an interview with GO in Accra last Tuesday at the hospital, some Staff of KBTH, who wished to remain anonymous, told this paper that they have been receiving their salaries from Management of the hospital from Internally Generated Funds (IGF) without any support whatsoever from the government. They said several appeals made to government through management of the hospital have fell deaf ears, threatening that if government does not heed to their call by the end of this month, they will stage a demonstration to demand their pound of flesh. They, therefore, called on the Ministry of Health and government to intervene in this matter as soon as possible before the problem gets out of hand. They lamented that though they work at the hospital where under normal circumstances they expect to receive free medical care, the issue is different as they are made to pay for every medical treatment they go through as compared to those who receive salaries from government. The male Staff ranging from the Pharmacy Department, Accounts Department, Engineering as well as the other departments claimed that when their spouses visit the hospital and arc admitted at the VIP wards, they arc made to pay for the hospital bills, something they sometimes find it difficult to do. According to them, they are not motivated in anyway to work hard for KBTH, telling this reporter that many of them go through hell at the hospital whenever they fall sick, maintaining that "when you are sick at Korle-Bu, you will regret it, you will pay for every bit of medical expenses so we sometimes go to private hospitals". One worker at the Accounts department pointed out that they expected the government to resolve the salary issue as part of President Mills' "better Ghana Agenda" but it seems nothing is being done. He intimated that staff motivation sometimes is not all about money, but doing something for an employee which would make his/her living condition improved. The staff revealed that Board and Management of the hospital claim that they are part of them (management) but they feel being sidelined from incentives given to those who are on government pay-roll. "We receive lower salaries as compared to our colleagues who are on government payroll, since we don't receive salaries from government, there's no way we can be included in the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) implementation which is on-going in some government institutions," they bemoaned. They explained that before a person is employed by an employer, after six years of probation, that employee is taken as a permanent worker and his/her salary is regularise unto the proper pay-roll, saying their case is different as their salaries have not been regularise. According to them, the highest salary of an employee at KBTH ranges between GH¢400-600, stressing that something needs to be done about it immediately so that they could be part of the SSSS implementation. They complained about the perennial water problem at the hospital which affects their working conditions as well as services they render to their clients and patients. Attempts to speak to management over the issue throughout the week proved futile. Source: The Ghanaian Observer