Dr Bernard Okoe Boye

Government is elated at the decision by the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) to call off its strike.

Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, said they can now heave a sigh of relief as the strike had enormous impact on health delivery in the country.

The healthcare workers in the country embarked on the strike over government’s failure to improve their conditions of service.

The group demanded some allowances due them but they claim their employer turned a deaf ear and blind eye to their concerns.

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They, therefore, resolved to go on strike on Monday, September 21, 2020, which created inconvenience to patients who visited health facilities across the country.

The National Labour Commission secured an interlocutory injunction to compel them to end the strike. GRNMA leadership has, thus, asked its members to report to their facility by Thursday, September 24, 2020.

Reacting to this, the Deputy Health Minister on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Wednesday thanked the nurses for changing their stance.

He said negotiations will resume between the leadership of GRNMA and government and the National Labour Commission.

He revealed that 80 percent of the nurses’ concerns have been met with the rest still being looked at.

He indicated that the parties have set October 28 deadline to address all demands being made by the nurses.

The Deputy Health Minister stressed that, as a government committed to healthcare delivery, “we will be the last people to frustrate nurses who have been at the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

He was optimistic negotiation would end with all parties satisfied with the outcome.