Upper West Regional Minister, Ephraim Avea Nsoh has stated that the Upper West regional coordinating council is contemplating a contingency plan to bring on retired doctors and nurses to fill the void left by striking doctors in the Upper West Region.
He said the doctors’ strike is having a toll on the people hence the need to have retired doctors and nurses to fill the void whilst government makes an attempt to persuade them back to work.
Dr. Nsoh made it known in an interaction with the media after visiting the Wa Regional Hospital to assess the impact of the doctors’ strike.
‘‘Within the region or districts, we are seeing how we can bring retired doctors, retired nurses and if possible bring housemen from the university for development studies to hold the fort whilst we try to resolve the issues and meet the needs of the doctors’’.
The visit of the Regional Minister is the second in as many weeks since the doctors began the nationwide strike.
The Minister was accompanied by all district chief executives in the region and some officials of the upper west regional coordinating council.
At the Maternity Ward, he was taken round by the midwife in charge of the Maternity Unit, Madam Nusrata Issa who informed the minister that four deliveries have been done through cesarean operations.
Dr. Nsoh thanked them for the service they are rendering to the people despite the absence of the medical doctors.
He said the government is very concerned about their plight and will do everything within it means to bring the doctors back.
The team on their way out of the Outpatient Department (OPD) of the hospital bumped in to a young man and his five year old who were involved in a motor accident.