GAMLS has declared a nationwide strike
Former chairperson of the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists(GAMLS) Dr Franklin Nii Amartey, has declared that the union is on strike to protest the unlawful imposition of doctors on their leadership because they deserve to rise to the pinnacle of their career to direct their own affairs.
He said, the imposition of medical doctors on their leadership by the Ghana Medical Association(GMA) is unwarranted, especially when they have PhD holders, consultants, and professors in their union to competently lead the charge of their profession rather than imposing doctors who are not part of their union on them.
Dr Amartey said this in an interview with Martin Asiedu Dartey on the Mid Day news on TV3, Thursday, May 27.
He was speaking on the back of his union declaring a nationwide indefinite strike action in solidarity with GAMLS personnel at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital(KATH) who embarked on a sit-down strike after the management of the foremost hospital in the Ashanti Region posted two physicians to the Haematology Unit without recourse to GAMLS. They registered their protest to the KATH authorities with demands to withdraw the two doctors or risk the strike escalating to a nationwide strike of their union in all health facilities across the country.
“So the policy is a document, we had issues with it so a committee was formed to look at the policy and both parties made a case. Now the committee came out with a finding and submitted the same to the ministry, now the ministry had to engage the parties involved to have a dialogue so we can agree on the issues and then live happily ever after. That has not been done and the Komfo Anokye(KATH) management has gone ahead to implement their position on the policy and we think that is unfair.
“And the only reason they have been able to do that is, whether we like it or not they are in the ultimate management positions. That is why they want to slap it on the face of Medical Laboratory professionals and then implement their intention on the policy. We think that is unfair and that is why it has resonated well with our members across the length and breadth of the country and we are striking in solidarity with our members in Komfo Anokye”, he pointed out.
Asked about the management of the association and the minimum qualification to assume the leadership of the outfit, Dr Amartey replied that “may I respectfully submit to you that the space of the medical laboratory now has changed tremendously. When we started this, the highest you could go was a certificate programme, today as I sit here, I am a product of the six years medical laboratory programme. We have consultants and professors and PhDs in our midst, what it means is that our face has transformed tremendously. And so we deserve to rise to the pinnacle now to direct our affairs. It is instructive to note that, in the Aryeetey report, they stated clearly that we must decouple the functions of the Technical Head and management.
“This, we must engage in discussions and fine-tune the nitty gritty before we implement it. Why is Komfo Anokye going ahead of everybody, as a direct provocation to our profession and implementing their intentions as medics by posting two people to the Haematology Unit? We must begin to have conversations around these”.