Some Nurses and Doctors in the Eastern Region say they cannot be gagged from speaking truth to power on the irresponsibility of Ghana Health Service that would endanger their lives.
According to the front-line health workers, an attempt by the Eastern Regional Health Directorate to mute staff from speaking out is untenable but agrees that patient confidentiality must be observed.
“Well, I didn’t see any part of the statement gagging us from expressing our grievances on lack of PPEs and other logistics needed to contain the spread of COVID-19. I think the letter is about patient confidentiality and information dissemination on both suspected and confirmed cases. It would be unfair for the Director to gag staff including us, Doctors and District Health Directors from speaking truth to power on their challenges. As we speak many Health workers have been quarantined for getting in contact with the positive case. We don’t have the adequate PPEs not to talk of funds for contact tracing and setting up isolation centers” A Medical Superintendent of a Government Hospital told mybrytfmonline.com.
Angry Eastern Regional Health Director Dr. Mrs. Alberta Adjaben Biritwum-Nyarko on April 13, 2020, issued a statement warning all staff of GHS “in all seriousness to desist from engaging the media from conversation and discussions on COVID-19 other than education”.
According to the Regional Health Director, “the recent spates of media engagements that have set our teeth on the edge are too many and must stop with immediate effect. Anyone one found to have given any information to the media on COVID-19 without the express permission of the Regional Health Director of Health Services will only have his or herself to blame. This is the last note of caution on this matter.”
A senior Nursing officer in one of the health facilities in the region who spoke on condition of anonymity said the memo has been duly communicated to all Staff at her facility.
She, however, blamed the panic reactions of Nurses whenever there are suspected cases, to lack of PPEs. She said, “the PPEs are not available so nurses will attend to a patient without PPE thinking it is just malaria then later turn out to be COVID-19 naturally they will panic and the information go viral at the hospital spills over into the media through clients at the facility.”
Source: Mybrytfmonline/Obed Ansah
