Management of the Tamale Teaching hospital has suspended plans to privatize the hospital’s laboratory.
This follows a series of agitations by workers of the hospital.Management took the decision after a marathon meeting with the workers on Tuesday.
Speaking to Citi News, the Head of the Hematology Department of the hospital, Patrick Ntrobila said management has also promised to address all the challenges the laboratory is facing.
“Leadership of the laboratory met yesterday and we had a satisfactory meeting and we have ironed out the issues that came on air and everything is going on now. We are now in the process of rebuilding so that everybody will be satisfied with what we do. We also recognize that we could have approached it in a better way and that is why we engaged and that is what has given satisfactory results.”
Staff fight privatization
Staff of the hospital’s Laboratory Department had accused the management of the health facility of deliberately rendering the unit non-functional in order to have a reason to outsource it to a private entity.
They claimed they had evidence to back their claim that the laboratory was generating money for the hospital despite the challenges confronting it.
In a letter addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, the laboratory staff revealed that the decision to outsource laboratory services was never discussed with the staff and that they only found out about the development in an advertisement in the Daily Graphic newspaper.
The staff in the letter also kicked against the arrangement explaining that they believe it is unreasonable and not in the best interest of the hospital. “We the staff of the Tamale Teaching Hospital with the support of sister associations in the health sector wish to unequivocally state that we do not agree with management’s decision to outsource services to a private individual because there are no justifiable reasons for embarking on such an arrangement.”
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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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