The Health Services Workers’ Union of TUC (Ghana)
For Immediate Release:
The Leadership of the Health Services Workers Union is observing a worrying trend which has the tendency of halting the effective operations of the health system in Ghana. The altercation between the Medical Laboratory Scientist and the Ghana Medical Association groups must be resolved as soon as possible before it escalates to become a nationwide issue. The Union wants to state clearly that it solidarizes with the Medical Laboratory Scientist and the entire Ghana Federation of Allied Health Professions since they are among our folds.
We have always reminded the government that the fundamental driving force of the health system is teamwork and any altercation among the various professionals should be addressed with the needed urgency. The pending issue has lingered for several years and keeps resurfacing in different forms and different hospitals because the crux of the matter has not been addressed. A similar incident occurred in the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital which received the same reactions.
The attempt by the government to deprive the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies and the Allied Health Professions Council of their authority should not be condoned. They are the body that regulates and certify all allied health professionals. In this light, why can’t the Laboratory Scientists who have been certified by the Allied Health Council head their own profession rather than forcing another profession on them? We unequivocally state that this is unfair and must not be allowed to thrive.
We therefore call on the government to immediately engage the management of KATH, the aggrieved members and the Union to resolve this issue as soon as possible because the Laboratory Scientist has over 35,000 Health Services Workers Union members behind them and failure to resolve this matter might lead to undesirable ramifications.
