Anaesthetists threaten strike from December 1 – GACRA

Certified registered anaesthetists will stop work across Ghana from Tuesday, December 1, unless the government improves their conditions of service, their association has warned.

GACRA President James Nwinsagra announced the deadline at the group’s 8th Annual General Meeting in Accra.

“If our concerns are not addressed appropriately within the shortest time favourably, we will have no option than to lay down our tools by December 1, 2026,” he said.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines, he said a strike was not what the association wanted. “We are in a crisis in Ghana, and the employer hasn’t actually paid much attention to our needs and the issues we have been raising,” he said.

He said GACRA had petitioned the government repeatedly for more than four years. “Maybe this is the only language they will pay attention to when it comes to anaesthesia services,” he added.

• Better pay and benefits. The remuneration approved under GACRA’s first collective agreement does not match members’ responsibilities and workload, Nwinsagra said.
• A scheme of service. GACRA has begun drafting one with its labour consultant, to set out clear career progression, and wants the Ministry of Health to speed up the process.
• A revised job description. The association has submitted one to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and wants the Director-General to get it approved by the GHS governing council and circulated.
• Training and development. Members want more professional development and scholarships for further training and international conferences.
• More anaesthesia schools. GACRA wants training institutions expanded, and more investment in their infrastructure, to rebuild the workforce.

Most surgical operations cannot go ahead without an anaesthetist, and past walkouts by GACRA members have disrupted surgery.

The government side included the FWSC and the finance, labour and health ministries. Both sides agreed then that the profession’s problems could be tackled through a scheme of service.

More than two years on, that scheme is still at the draft stage. Nwinsagra welcomed the signed agreement after two years of talks, but said what the government approved fell short of members’ expectations.

At its 5th AGM in Bolgatanga in December 2023, GACRA said about 1,200 anaesthetists were serving more than 32 million people. It said more than 30 per cent of anaesthetists had left the country that year.

Nwinsagra blamed the exodus on poor conditions of service, a lack of career progression, the absence of a scheme of service and what he said was the wrong placement of members on the Single Spine pay structure.

Its General Secretary, Moses Siaw-Frimpong, said critical care was available in fewer than 10 hospitals because of staff shortages, and that this contributed to high maternal mortality.

3News found no public response from the Ministry of Health, the GHS or the FWSC to GACRA’s deadline by Wednesday evening.

The ultimatum gives the government less than four weeks to reach a deal before December 1.