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All emergency and outpatient services have been suspended indefinitely by the Tamale Teaching Hospital’s (TTH) medical staff.
Their complaints include a hostile workplace, a dearth of essential medical supplies, and what they say is an insult to their dignity from high-ranking government officials.
Following an emergency general assembly meeting Tuesday at noon, the Doctors’ Association of Tamale Teaching Hospital (DATTH) issued a statement announcing that its members will no longer provide services at the Paediatrics OPD, Antenatal Clinic, Specialist Clinic, and General OPD.
“Inpatient care shall continue for our clients currently on admission until they are safely discharged,” the statement explained.
The consequences from an incident during Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh’s visit to the hospital on April 22, 2025, and what the physicians have called “false and biased reportage” from various media sites covering the visit are at the center of the doctors’ protest.
They demand that Dr. Valentine Akwulpwa, the whole medical personnel, and especially the team at the Accident and Emergency Department, receive unqualified apologies from Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini, the Health Minister and Tamale North MP.
“We shall resume provision of emergency and outpatient services after we receive appropriate apologies,” the doctors declared.
Beyond the apologies, however, comes a startling list of resource and infrastructure deficiencies that, according to the doctors, make providing quality medical care practically difficult.
The association listed a number of short- and long-term demands in its statement, such as:
- Constant water and electricity supply
- Steady provision of oxygen and critical medical consumables such as gloves, cannulae, syringes, disinfectants, and glucometer strips
- Reagents to keep lab services running
- Vital signs monitors for high-dependency units
- Ventilators for various wards, including neonatal, pediatric, maternal, and emergency units
- Transport ventilators and incubators
- Repairs to essential sterilisation equipment
In the medium term, the doctors are requesting advanced diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, such as a helium-free MRI scanner, a CT scan with an infusion pump, and machines for fluoroscopy and mammography.
Other examples include mobile X-ray equipment, ABG machines in every intensive care unit, and C-arms for theaters.
“We shall advise ourselves if there is failure to achieve the above within the shortest possible time,” the statement warns.
Additionally, the doctors are calling on media outlets that reported on the incident in what they call “false and biased reportage” to issue public retractions and apologize.
DATTH states that it will not interact with certain media sources until such apologies are given. And the warning doesn’t stop there.
According to the doctors, in the interest of their own safety, any staff members who feel threatened while carrying out their responsibilities at the hospital would “immediately remove themselves from such hostile environment.”
Read GMA statement in support of the Tamale Teaching Hospital’s Doctors below:
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
