Pressure has been mounting on me to share the second part of my musing apropos
the impasse by our doctors. I shared the first part a fortnight ago, and the
emails and social media messages haven’t ceased since. Only a couple of days
ago, an avid reader of my articles sent me this: “Boss, I’m still waiting to
read what you have to say about the government, as promised oo”. Frankly, as
the days went on, I had resolved not to write the sequel, but rather revert to
my aim of ‘motivating’, ‘inspiring’ and ‘challenging’ my fellow mortals with my
articles. But I figured it’s the constant ‘k’
in a linear equation – correcting social vices, and aim to make us see reason
to want to brighten ever corner we find ourselves. So yes, this is a sequel to
the earlier one, and it’s not just the government I’m going to write about but
the doctors as well – again! Let’s go.
Apparently, I missed the part of their proposal where they asked for a
‘malpractice allowance’. Does gobsmack
appropriately describe my feeling? What, in God’s Holy Name is that? They want
us to pay them when they act negligently? Like they did to my sweet octogenarian
grandmother? Like they did to the 15-or-so-year old lad at the Ridge Hospital? A
few days ago, I was told a story of a recently graduated but pompous young
doctor at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital who drove a syringe containing the
wrong medicine into the veins of a patient against the protestation of a rather
experienced nurse. The family members of the patient who died about two minutes
after the injection was administered are currently walking on the corridors of
our high courts in search of justice. And the officials of the Ghana Medical
Association propose that our taxes go into the payment of such penalties? Thankfully,
a document purporting to government’s response has out rightly rejected this
proposal.
Then was the issue of the legality or otherwise of the strike. An
acquaintance, Timothy Adzamli shared his musings when he read the first part of
this piece on my blog [click here
to read it], which will be my take on it. He posited that the fact that
government was unable to meet the doctors' deadline for conclusion of
negotiations for their conditions of service does not neutralize the supposed
illegality of the strike. “Which option creates a more sustainable precedent
for labour – government just giving in and agreeing to what the doctors want,
or doctors resuming work whilst procedures for negotiations continue in good
faith?”, he asked. In his view, it was sadistic at this stage to hold the
country to ransom just because the very nature of their job made it an ‘essential
service’ to humanity. He shuddered to imagine the consequences if our customs
officials abandoned the ports, or if the police and armed forces deserted their
national security duties. These other essential service providers also have
issues peculiar to them, but they realize that what is lost when they leave
their posts can never be regained when they resume work. This is why the law
would place some restrictions on the extent to which these essential service
providers can express themselves. I don’t think it is because the law wants to
condone government’s inertia, but to place human lives above all other things
and ensure same are not used as bargaining chips.
The goat thinks it mars the beauty of its owner’s wall in protestation,
but it forgets it bleaches its own derriere when it does so. Communicators of
government have made comments that seem to suggest that we can do without the
services of our doctors. Although this isn’t the official position of
government, it still smacks of arrogance and ought to be condemned in no
uncertain terms. How do you bastardize in the media, one you sit opposite to on
the negotiation table and expect him to laugh with you when the process is
ongoing? The government may not have committed it, but like our elders say,
remaining aloof when your proponents commit an act makes you equally complicit,
if not more. And did I hear Mr Alex Segbefia say that was going engage the
services of Cuban doctors if our doctors failed to call off the strike when it
was ongoing? Did he not know that option would have been much more expensive
considering the fact that most Cuban nationals speak Spanish? And even if they
speak English as a second language, they’ll still require the services of an
interpreter if a patient speaks only a local dialect. Assuming that interpreter
is a nurse, will that not contribute to say truancy, because the sick teacher
whose temperature and vital stats need to be taken will not be attended to on
time? I’m at a loss how these decisions are arrived at, who their consultants
are as well as their motives.
Again, although I disagree with Dr Serebour’s comment that suggested
that the brightest students only made doctors, the respect I have for health
workers has not dissipated. Some work their hearts out just because they think
their service is one towards humanity and not necessarily for the accompanying
financial rewards. I read of Dr Teddy Totimeh’s exploits where he started a pediatric
neurosurgical unit in a government children’s hospital in Accra about six
months ago. He sometimes buys the drugs and other items the unit needs for
surgeries, but for the past 3 months or so, he hasn’t received a dime for his
works. Interestingly, it doesn’t stop him from putting smiles on the faces of
his patients.
I also heard of an incident where a mental patient gouged the eye of a
nurse who was attending to him. When I expressed shock, I was told it was a
‘normal’ happenstance there. What made me quiver was the fact that nothing is
done for victims of such incidents. They cough up monies for their own
treatment and are expected to resume work as ‘one-eyed’ nurses, which I find
infuriating. One is left with a permanent disability when he is trying to save
lives, and the government does absolutely nothing for him/her? A health
professional changes the diapers of elderly patients, sometimes even wiping
their butts after they soil themselves, and the government doesn’t think it
wise to adequately reward them? No, monies are never found for important
payments as these. Rather, when a rural electrification project is ongoing,
monies are magically conjured from the skies like Okomfo Anokye’s Golden Stool, to purchase luxurious cars for the
sector minister’s comfort. And the nauseating aspect of it is when that
minister takes those cars home, and has the effrontery to defend his shameless
misdeeds on air. Monies for social interventions like SADA and GYEEDA are
accruing interests in private offshore accounts, and government officials pat themselves
on the back because the looters have been given a repayment plan. However,
Manasseh Azure Awuni avers that ‘small fries’ are being prosecuted whilst the
‘whales’ sip on Cognac on an island which has the Burj Khalifa in sight.
I’m not sure what our doctors do is what the renowned retired
educationist and diplomat Mr. K. B. Asante called patriotism when he wrote
about it in the Daily Graphic sometime ago. Our many governments since
independence seem to have given a new meaning to this word.
So where did we go wrong as a country?
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