The President of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr. Emmanuel Adom Winful has warned of dire consequences in the industrial front if the migration of doctors unto the new pay policy is botched as has happened in the case of teachers. In an interview with Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Dr. Winful explained that the reason they are forewarning the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) against anomalies stems from the widespread agitation in the education service following the migration of teachers unto the new pay policy. “We just want to tell them that… if it is a mistake on the part of any of the partners in this negotiations, that is, the Accountant General’s department, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, then they must correct that mistake before it gets to our turn,” he stated. He said what the teachers are facing “is absolutely not comfortable” and “unacceptable so we are just telling them that please let us have some harmony in the industrial front and do the job as we are supposed to do.” Dr. Winful pointed out that all the parties in the negotiations had the necessary information and documents required to ensure that such a mistake was avoided. According to him, the number of teachers being migrated unto the scheme was no excuse for the FWSC to commit such mistakes in the process and that “If you can’t do the job get out of the place and get somebody else to do it properly because I don’t think you will accept a mistake from a doctor when he goes and tells you that look, I have never seen this condition before so hold on and let me go and do whatever I have to do before I come and treat you. They have been put there because they know the job they have to do and I don’t know what has caused them to create such a mess.” He said people have commitments at the end of the month and such anomalies jeopardize these plans and create problems that have dire consequences for the individual. “Please they should not do it to us because the health sector is very sensitive and we don’t want any disturbance on the industrial front,” Dr. Winful pleaded. As to whether the GMA will demonstrate if there were any mistakes with their migration unto the scheme, Dr. Winful only warned that the action they will take will be very uncomfortable for the country. But the Chief Executive Officer of the FWSC, Mr George Smith-Graham has said the body has learnt its lessons. He said “we have tried to engage them and engage all the unions in a very open and frank manner and I am sure they know all the things that we are doing behind the scenes. This is a very difficult period…We are only praying that, if for instance they don’t put pressure on us again that give it to us at this time or else we are going on strike when everything is not set then that becomes problematic as we had in the case of the teachers.” He assured the doctors that they will ensure the needed details are ironed out before it is implemented. Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana