Doctors must have compassion on patients

The Daily Graphic makes it clear that there is no merit in the perception among the ranks of medical professionals in the country that the paper is against them. On the contrary, we raise the issues because having taken the Hippocratic oath, doctors are enjoined to value human life.

It is because of this oath and the fact that the National Labour Commission (NLC) categorises doctors’ services as essential that members of the public always frown on attempts by doctors to turn their back on patients in dire need of medical care.

Since the processes towards the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) and its implementation began, some public sector workers, including medical doctors, have expressed dissatisfaction with the way things have been done.

For those who are raising the concerns, the SSPP has not helped improve their conditions of service, hence the strike by the medical officers.

The doctors have accused the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) of dragging its feet on their demand and that even when the NLC has directed that certain actions be taken, the commission has just refused to oblige.

Although the strike began to a slow start yesterday, with some doctors in some public health facilities saying they were working, it is important for all the social partners to get together to resolve the matter.

The Daily Graphic thinks it wil serve nobody’s interest if even a single doctor or a few of them decide to lay down their tools.

We know that the doctor:patient ratio is not good enough. That is why we must make sure that all doctors stay at post to provide services for our people.

Anytime we have asked doctors not to put their material gain above human life,  the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has always concluded that we are insensitive to doctors’ plight and that we are simply out of to give its members a bad name in order to hang them.

The Daily Graphic upholds everybody’s right to show his or her disagreement with a certain policy, but that must be done without hurting the interest of others.

Furthermore, we have insisted that taking entrenched positions has never helped in resolving any challenge in society. It is for this reason that we ask the parties in dispute, in this case the GMA and the FWSC, to get back to the negotiation table to try and iron out all the issues.

The Daily Graphic thinks that any other option is objectionable and can only compound the challenges in the health sector.

While the parties jaw-jaw, we urge all doctors to return to post in the national interest in order to save lives.

It is also crucial for the FWSC to recognise the critical role of all the social partners and continue to talk to them at all times to avoid deadlock in negotiations, for any adversarial posture will not help our country.

Dialogue still holds the key to the resolution of the present impasse.