Federation of Allied Health Professions call off strike
The Ghana Federation of Allied Health Professions (GFAHP), an umbrella body of 18 health professional associations, has suspended its strike which began on May 14.
The suspension was announced after the leadership of the federation met with the Chief Director of the Ministry of Health (MoH), Nana Kwabena Adjei-Mensah, in Accra last Thursday.
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Members of the federation declared the strike to press home their demand for a governing board, among other requests.
The federation has, however, issued a caveat that the MoH, together with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) should engage relevant stakeholders such as the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, to ensure the inclusion of the GFAHP in the Amendment of the GHS and the Teaching Hospital Bill 2019, by June 7, 2019 to ensure the swift and amicable resolution of the impasse.
On May 20, 2019, the leadership of the federation had its first meeting with the chief director.
Concerns
Among the concerns raised at the meeting with the chief director on May 20, 2019, was the absence of a governing board for the Allied Health Professions Council, 27 months after the dissolution of the previous one and the non-inclusion of the allied health professions in the proposed amendments to the governing boards of the GHS and the Teaching Hospital Act, 1996 (Act 525).
After the meeting, the GFAHP proposed that the chief director, together with the leadership of the federation and the GHS, should meet again on May 23, to discuss the concerns of the federation and also confirm by way of documentation, the nominees of the GFAHP to represent it on the governing board for the Allied Health Professionals Council.
The chief director was also to meet with the Chief of Staff and the Chairman of the Council of State to ensure a swift resolution of the impasse.
On the non-inclusion of GFAHP in the proposed amendment to the governing boards of the teaching hospitals, the chief director was to arrange an emergency meeting between the leadership of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health and the GFAHP by May 31, 2019, to get their concerns addressed.
A second meeting was thus conveyed last Thursday, where the chief director reported that he had met with the relevant bodies and an approved list of the board would be submitted to the Council of State between May 29 and May 30.
On the complaint of the non-inclusion of the Allied Health Professionals in the Amendment of the GHS and Teaching Hospital Bill 2019, the chief director said he would follow up on the issue by holding a meeting of the relevant bodies by May 29, 2019.
Background
On May 14, 2019, members of the GFAHP started an industrial action, which according to them, was because the government had for more than two years failed to institute a board for the federation to regulate the activities of the health institutions and the members.
They complained that the absence of the board had resulted in the proliferation of quacks and mushrooming of substandard training institutions in the health sector and that was putting the lives of the public at risk.
Another grievance of the GFAHP is that although they make up over 50 per cent of clinical health professions in the health sector, they have been denied representation on the board of teaching hospitals.
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