The laboratory units at the Manhyia Government Hospital and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi have been closed, following the strike by the Medical Laboratory Professional Workers' Union (MELPWU).

From the consultation unit, patients are directed to access private laboratories.

But the patients are decrying the high cost of services at these private facilities.

The members of the Medical Laboratory Professional Workers' Union are on strike over government's delay in addressing their conditions of service.

The industrial action is taking a toll on health service delivery across the country.

Currently, red bands and notices of the strike have been placed at the offices offering laboratory services at the Manhyia Government Hospital in Kumasi.

Patients and their relatives were visibly distressed by the strike when Luv News visited the facility.

A 81-year-old lady, whose daughter is undergoing a post-delivery treatment, told Luv News they are stranded since they cannot access lab services.

“I am old and my daughter after giving birth has grown pale. Where do I go from here?,” she asked.

The situation is the same at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital as OPD attendees are directed to private labs.

But the patients complain of the high cost of accessing private lab services.

“It is expensive in private institutions. They took GHS670 which I ordinarily do not pay when I do labs here,” a patient said.

The strike has rendered other departments such as the disease control units, maternity wards, and blood banks passive.

The Ministry of Health has appealed to the striking lab workers to call off their strike and return to the negotiation table.

But the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists, Dr Eric Kofi Aidoo, told JoyNews the role of laboratory scientists in hospitals has been undermined for a long time.

“Medical lab scientists have been ignored for years and they play a major role in the success of hospitals. In fact, they drive more revenue for the hospital than any unit. Things have gone wrong,” he said.

Dr Kofi Aidoo is however hopeful of a positive response to their plea to resume servicing patients.

“Our hearts go out to the people we render services to. But this is the language the government understands. We feel these are petty allowances that we deserve, if government listens and gets us back on the negotiation table, then things would get resolved,” he said.