Allawa: Pay us by 30 Sept or we strike – Rotational nurses, midwives to gov’t

Rotational Nurses have given the government a two-day ultimatum to pay their allowance else they will lay down their tools.

Addressing a press conference today, Wednesday, 29 September 2021, Vice President of the Ghana Nurse-Midwife Trainees’ Association, Madugu Kwame Richard, said the nurses have not been paid allowance for the past eight months since they started the mandatory service.

He said since the assumption of duty in February 2021, they have not been given IPPD forms to fill not to mention staff ID and biometric registration to enable the Controller and Accountant General to effect payment of the allowance.

He, therefore, called on the Ministry of Health to do the needful by ensuring that they undertake the various processes to enable them to access the allowance by September 30, else they will strike.

“These nurses and midwives posted by the National Service Secretariat are posted not based on their geographical location, tribe or region, hence the need for them to feed themselves, pay rent, secure themselves, pay light bill, pay water bill, transport themselves to and from work on many occasions which all involves the use of money. We further wish to state that failure by the sole agency which is the ministry of health to give the rotational nurses and midwives clearance by close of 30 September, we will have no option than to lay down our tools since a hungry nurse is a potential killer,” Mr Richard said.

He also said the nursing trainee allowance have stopped for half a year now, and some have also been in arrears for about 20 months.

He called on the government to pay the allowance since their parents have stopped given them money for their upkeep with the notion that the allowance is being paid by the government.

The Vice President also called on the government to post the 2019 batch of nurses and midwives who are still at home to fill the gap of a nurse per 18-patients-ratio.