Doctors at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) have suspended all emergency and outpatient services with immediate effect, following what they describe as an unjustified attack on their professionalism.
The decision, reached during an “emergency” general assembly meeting by the Doctors’ Association of Tamale Teaching Hospital (DATTH), is contingent on receiving unqualified apologies from Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh and Tamale North MP Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini.
“Following our earlier press release, the Doctors` Association of Tamale Teaching Hospital held an emergency general assembly meeting. The outcome of this meeting is as below:
“That with immediate effect, all members of DATTH have proceeded on an indefinite suspension of all emergency and outpatient services (General OPD, Antenatal clinic, Specialist clinic, Paediatrics OPD)”
DATTH
At the centre of the protest is an incident during a ministerial visit to the hospital’s Accident and Emergency department on April 22, 2025. DATTH members insist that remarks made by the Health Minister and the Tamale North MP unfairly discredited the conduct and commitment of doctors at the facility.
“Apologies… should be rendered to Dr. Valentine Akwulpwa, all doctors of the Tamale Teaching Hospital and staff of the Accident and Emergency department”
DATTH
According to DATTH, no emergency or outpatient services will resume until such apologies are publicly issued.
In the strongly worded statement, DATTH also demanded improvements in critical hospital infrastructure and resources, threatening further action should their conditions remain unmet.
The suspended services include General Outpatient Department (OPD), Antenatal Clinic, Specialist Clinic, and Paediatrics OPD. The association clarified that inpatient care would continue only for patients already on admission, with plans to discharge them safely.
“We shall resume provision of emergency and outpatient services after we receive appropriate apologies,” the association added.
Beyond Apologies
Beyond the issue of apologies, DATTH has tabled a comprehensive list of equipment and infrastructural requirements it deems essential for the safe and effective delivery of healthcare.
The doctors have called on hospital management to ensure immediate access to water, electricity, oxygen, and a range of clinical consumables, including gloves, syringes, gauze, disinfectants, and glucometer strips.
Among the key equipment requested in the short term are “four ventilators at the accident and emergency department, four ventilators at the intensive care unit, two ventilators at the pediatric emergency ward and two ventilators at the neonatal intensive care unit.”
DATTH further demanded “two ventilators at the maternal intensive care unit, two transport ventilators, two transport incubators at the obstetrics and gynecology department.”
Also listed are vital signs monitors, reagents for laboratory tests, and servicing of existing sterilization equipment.
DATTH also presented a series of medium-term requirements, urging hospital management to expedite their procurement. These include advanced diagnostic and therapeutic tools such as MRI and CT scan machines, mammography and fluoroscopy machines, a C-arm unit, and blood gas analyzers for all intensive care units.
“DATTH will continue to engage management to ensure that the aforementioned – are available for healthcare delivery. We shall advise ourselves if there is failure to achieve the above within the shortest possible time”
DATTH
The association also expressed growing concerns about the safety of its members, stating that any doctor who feels threatened at any point during service delivery “in the hospital,” would remove themselves from that environment immediately.
Additionally, upon its accusation of certain media outlets misrepresenting the events of the minister’s visit, DATTH insisted that these outlets must apologise publicly.
“All media houses that released false and biased reportage of the incident at the TTH accident and emergency during the health minister’s visit should render apologies to DATTH on their platforms. DATTH shall not engage these media houses until this is done”
DATTH
As tensions escalate, the Ministry of Health and the Office of the Tamale North MP are yet to officially respond. Meanwhile, the patients and residents of the Northern Region remain at the mercy of a healthcare stalemate, with no end in sight unless critical demands are met.
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