The Ministry of Health (MoH) has reminded all health workers that they are required to work 40 hours per week.
That, it explained, was in consonance with the government pay reform within the framework of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) as implemented in January, 2010 to evaluate jobs of public sector workers for 40 hours per week.
This was contained in a statement issued by the ministry in response to threats by some medical officers at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) to provide limited and discriminatory services to the general public.
It explained that even prior to the government issuing a white paper on the SSPP and its actual implementation, medical officers and other health workers in the public sector started receiving market premium due to the critical services they provided.
“In that arrangement, specialists currently receive, in addition to their base pay, a market premium which is calculated using 120 per cent of their 2012 base pay. Non-specialists currently receive, in addition to their base pay, a market premium which is also calculated using 100 per cent of the 2012 base pay,” it said, stressing that “the government has been paying this since the inception of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).”
The statement said it would, therefore, be unfortunate for any medical officer or any other health worker not to work for the salaries that they earned.
It said the ministry had written to the National Labour Commission to use its mandate to address such action by any group of health workers in breach of the SSPP.
“The medical officers should be reminded that they swear a Hippocratic Oath to save lives and render health care to everyone in need at anytime. The ministry, therefore, entreats management of KATH to remind the few doctors who want to act otherwise,” it said.
It said the ministry had also written to the Registrar, Medical and Dental Council to enforce the General Code of Conduct of Medical Officers in the public sector.
The statement also reminded the board of KATH of its role in the management of healthcare service at the teaching hospital and Ghana as a whole.
“The Ministry of Health will continue to seek the welfare of all health workers and protect patients’ safety across the country for the delivery of quality healthcare,” it stated.