Nurses at the Manhyia District Hospital in the Kumasi Metropolis have rescinded their decision to strike.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives’ Association (GRNMA), Friday, 2 December 2022.

According to the GRNMA, their employers, the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS), “have reached out in writing to condemn the actions of Mr Alex Opoku Mensah.”

It noted that its employers further called on “the leadership of the GRNMA and the entire Nursing and Midwifery Fraternity to remain calm and withdraw the intended and roadmap to embark on an industrial strike, and allow for the due administrative processes and investigations to be conducted by the National Service Secretariat for a final determination on the incident.”

It also indicated that “other stakeholders including our dear patients and clients and the general public have also formally and informally condemned the actions of Mr Alex Opoku Mensah and have pleaded the leadership of the GRNMA to rescind its decision on embarking on a full scale strike action and resume nursing and midwifery services at Manhyia District Hospital.”

It noted that, in view of this, it has “called off its strike in Manhyia District Hospital and the intended roadmap for a full industrial action to allow the committee set up the National Service Secretariat to carry out its mandate and to ensure that our patients and clients do not suffer unduly.”

It called on all nurses and midwifes “especially those in Manhyia District hospital to kindly adhere to this directive and return to work,” today, Saturday, 3 December 2022 and “continue providing safe and quality nursing and midwifery services to the people of Manhyia and its environs.”

For failing to sack the Ashanti Regional Director of the NSS, nurses at the Manhyia government Hospital  began a sit-down strike on Friday, 2 December 2022.

The GRNMA spearheading the strike threatened to escalate it on 6 December where all nurses in the region will remain at home if the NSS regional Director was still at post.

The Association in a statement further said there will be a nationwide strike of nurses by Friday, 9 November 2022, if their demand was not met.

Mr Opoku-Mensah has been suspended by the management of the NSS pending investigations but the GRNMA is unsatisfied.

They want him sacked from office for barging into the Manhyia Government Hospital to insult a nurse on duty.

Mr Opoku-Mensah went to the hospital to fight the nurse on behalf of his daughter after the nurse had questioned the house officer on an issue.

The nurse is believed to have used her own phone to call Mr Opoku-Mensah’s daughter to come to the hospital and log into the E-Health System and update a patient’s prescription order so that the patient is not billed for unissued drugs.

It is not clear how the nurse communicated with Mr Mensah’s daughter on the phone which made her feel disrespected.

Mr Opoku-Mensah then followed his daughter to the hospital and was captured on tape insulting the nurse and threatening to mastermind her removal from the hospital.

He went on further to say his daughter is more intelligent than the said nurse and further threatened to come to the hospital in his daughter’s defence anytime she is intimidated by anyone in the facility. 

The GRNMA said Mr Opoku-Mensah had no right to enter the hospital to abuse a nurse.

The group said as a Regional Director of the NSS, he should have known that the Manhyia District Hospital has management with whom he could have lodged a complaint instead of barging into the facility to attack the nurse.

Meanwhile, Mr Opoku-Mensah has apologised for his action.

In a Facebook post, the embattled Mr Opoku-Mensah said “I understand the disappointment and appreciate the inconvenience my action has caused the general public as well as the Nursing FRATERNITY and Manhyia Hospital.

“This has never been my style but for a genuine reason to mediate a persistent issue between my daughter(Doctor) and a colleague nurse who I as well consider my daughter.

“I do apologise for any mishap and assure all, there shall not be a repetition of such.

“I look forward to maintaining a cordial relationship with any affected person.”