General Secretary of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association GRNMA), David Tenkorang, has revealed that the association is satisfied with the recommendations laid out by the committee overseeing the case of the suspended Ashanti Regional Director of National Service Secretariat, Alex Opoku-Mensah.
According to him, the action demonstrated by Mr Opoku-Mensah before the committee reveals his remorse for his actions in the leaked video which showed his altercation with a nurse. He indicated that the association is not just asking him to “go away and waste away” but could be re-deployed to where he could exert that kind of energy in a positive way which will be appropriate.
“We believe that we are all human beings, and we err at one point in life and we’ve seen the recommendations that have been laid out by the committee that was constituted to look into the matter under dispute. I must say that we are very satisfied although we were asking for total dismissal of same but having heard that he demonstrated remorse before the committee, we should move on.”
David Tenkorang
Commenting on whether the recommendations by the committee included an apology to nurses from Mr Opoku-Mensah, the General Secretary of GRNMA indicated that he did not sight that in the letter.
“It appears as though he is rather supposed to render an unqualified apology to the institution that he worked, and we felt that it would have been appropriate if same was extended to the nursing profession. But be it as it may, we think we are okay.”
David Tenkorang
Elsewhere, a former director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Agyemang Badu Akorsah, expressed the need for health professionals to appreciate the fact that it is a multi-disciplinary team, with each holding its own and contributing to the ultimate health of the people.
He stated that it is important that everybody accepts and knows their limitations in terms of their professional work, which is a basic paradigm.
“If you are a professional, you know the limit to your training and expertise and you know when to pass on and even within a set professional grouping, that is why there’re seniors, consultants, sub-specialists and so on. I think one of the difficulties is that, in this country, there is lack of supervision.”
Dr Agyemang Badu Akorsah
Dr Akorsah explained that there is lack of supervision of all professional groupings and that has allowed people to attempt to do what they like and in essence go beyond what their capacity and capability permits them. This, he noted, is why the friction continues.
“… I want to implore all health professional that we are in a new year, let all of us pace back one moment, reflect on our training, capacity, on our capability and know that we work as a harmonious team for the benefit of the patients [and] for the benefit of society.”
Dr Agyemang Badu Akorsah
Suspension of NSS Ashanti Region Director
It will be recalled that the National Service Secretariat (NSS) directed the suspended Ashanti Region Director, Alex Opoku-Mensah, to report to Accra after his suspension “to work under supervision”.
Mr Opoku-Mensah was suspended immediately after audios of an alleged altercation between him and a nurse at the Manhyia Government Hospital were leaked. The regional NSS head was heard raining insults on the nurse after the latter is said to have called for a review of a prescription issued by his daughter, who is a junior doctor at the facility.
Despite apologizing for his action, a committee was set up to investigate the incident. After the committee’s report was presented to the NSS, Executive Director, Osei Assibey Antwi, wrote to Mr Opoku-Mensah in a letter to communicate the Board’s decisions.
In the letter, the Board sanctioned Mr Opoku-Mensah’s suspension for two months without pay. It further revealed that within seven days upon receipt of the notice, he is also to issue an official apology to the National Service Scheme for bringing the name of the Scheme into disrepute.
The committee that investigated the incident comprised representatives from the NSS itself, the Public Services Commission, and the Ministry of Education and was given one month to report to the NSS management.
