Doctors of the Korle Bu Doctors Association (KODA) have suspended their intended strike action over their 13th-month salary arrears.
The doctors threatened to withdraw their services at the Out Patients Department (OPD) and elective surgeries and procedures at the hospital from February 6-10 if management failed to come up with clear timelines for the payment of their arrears.
A letter from the group said, “if nothing is heard from February 13, 2023, onwards, emergencies will be refused till all inpatients are discharged”.
But the Chairman of KODA, Dr Frank Owusu-Sekyere, said the withdrawal of services which were to begin today, February 6, had been suspended.
He said this follows an agreement with management on a timeline for the payment of the arrears.
“Management came out with a letter spelling out the timelines they think they can pay the rest of the arrears. So we just had a meeting as an association, and we have agreed to the timelines management has given, praying that they will stick to their side of the bargain so there is no threat to it before it is paid.
“So come the end of March, 25 per cent of the arrears will be paid, and then by end of June, another 25 percent will be paid,” he said.
In an earlier protest letter, the doctors said management exhibited bad faith when it failed to meet the agreed deadline on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and the Ministry of Health regarding the 13th-month salary payment.
They also claimed that the communication to the management not to pay the 25% of the arrears until a clear agreement on the timelines for the remainder of the arrears has gone unheeded.