Accra: Professor Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, the Acting Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), on Monday appealed to the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) to call off their strike and return to the negotiation table. He emphasized that the ongoing strike could pose a risk to patients’ lives, highlighting that everyone is a potential patient in need of care.

According to Ghana News Agency, Prof Kaba made this plea during the signing of a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between the GHS, the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the CK Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences in Accra. He urged nurses to reconsider their stance, sharing a poignant example of a pregnant nurse who might find herself in need of care during the strike. He reiterated the importance of resuming negotiations and joining efforts with the government to resolve outstanding issues.

The GRNMA had announced a phased withdrawal of services starting in early June 2025, protesting the government’s delay in implementing their collective agreement. This agreement, signed in May 2024, included the GRNMA, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, but remains unenforced a year later. The strike initiated with the suspension of all Out-Patient Department (OPD) services from June 4 to 8 and escalated to a full withdrawal of services from June 9, 2025, despite governmental attempts to reverse the decision.

A Ghana News Agency visit to several hospitals on Monday confirmed the full implementation of the strike. A task force was monitoring compliance across hospitals. At the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, the absence of nurses at the OPD left doctors managing the workload alone. Similarly, at the Adabraka Polyclinic, a few assistant nurses in plain clothes managed emergency cases alongside doctors, working extended hours from 0800 to 2000, with late cases being referred.

An official at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, speaking anonymously to the GNA, noted that some nurses were attending to critical OPD cases but faced threats from the task force, leading to a misunderstanding that was eventually resolved.