By Godfred A. Polkuu
Sandema (U/E), July 27, GNA – Mr Eric Ayariga, a Principal Physician Assistant (PPA) at the Sandema Hospital in the Builsa North Municipality of the Upper East Region has called on the Medical and Dental Council (MDC) to create the opportunity for Ghanaians to access quality healthcare services at all levels.
He said the MDC was working to have the Health Professions and Regulatory Bodies Amendment Bill 2023 passed into law which would limit the operations of members of the Ghana Physician Assistants Association (GPAA), who were mostly at the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds, Health Centres, Polyclinics and hospitals.
Mr Ayariga, who is the Clinical Coordinator of the Hospital and the immediate past Regional Vice Chairman of the GPAA, made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Sandema to emphasize the reason for the ongoing strike action by the GPAA.
The GPAA among several grievances, opposed the Bill 2023 before Parliament, noting that it would impose Medical Doctors on members and frustrate their efforts to progress in their chosen profession.
The PPA described the Bill as “So suffocating, limiting and detrimental to the people of Ghana as it limits members of the GPAA from treating patients at the periphery.
“If a child is brought to the Health Centre with severe malaria, which we have been trained to treat, and a law says I must have a supervisor who does not even exist, before I see the child, you can imagine the number of lives we will lose in Ghana,” he said.
Mr Ayariga stressed that “We are not in any competition with any cadre, what we are simply saying is that let’s give the people of Ghana the great opportunity to access quality healthcare at all levels. Some people can afford to travel to other places for healthcare, what about the vulnerable and the less privileged in the villages,” he quizzed.
The former Regional Vice Chair said leadership and members of the GPAA were not happy with the industrial action, “Because we love our clients, but the fact that if this Bill becomes a law, it would further worsen the woes of our dear clients.”
According to him, PAs in the country had over the years made countless sacrifices and compromises on their conditions of service and continued to render professional services to clients across the country despite all odds.
“We cannot go to work until our demands are met. We have been suffering for many years now, and this time, we must do things right. I call on members of the public to appreciate our concerns to promote quality healthcare across Ghana,” he said.
Some patients who were often attended to by the PPA, and were told he was on strike, when they visited the Hospital, still traced to his official residence on the Hospital premises to seek care.
“In fact two clients came to me, one was a review for referral, and the other came with his child for treatment for a condition the elder sister had, which I managed, and so he felt that it was appropriate for him to bring the child to me.
“I referred them to the Hospital and assured them that they would be well taken care of. I felt bad about it, but once we are on strike, there was nothing I could do,” he said.
At the Out-Patient Department of the Hospital, there was one nurse prescriber in the consulting room, while the two Doctors in the Hospital conducted general ward rounds and attended to emergency patients.
Some patients who spoke to the GNA on condition of anonymity, said they were not aware of the strike and expressed concern about the time spent at the OPD.
GNA