Former Sekyere Afram Plains District Chief Executive (DCE), Fuseini Donkor, has questioned calls for the Health Minister to effect arrests following the assault of a nurse at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge Hospital).
Speaking on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem, Mr. Donkor argued that the matter should be treated as a criminal case to be handled by security agencies, not politicised.
“Why are we calling on the Minister to go and effect arrests? It makes it look as though it was a government official who assaulted the nurse,” he said.
Mr. Donkor noted that similar attacks on nurses have occurred in the past, citing an incident in Walewale where three health staff were assaulted, yet health associations did not threaten strike action.
He stressed that the key issue was security lapses at Ridge Hospital, questioning how the perpetrators gained access to the facility unchecked.
According to him, the hospital should have promptly reported the matter to the police rather than shifting responsibility onto the Minister.
He cautioned against politicising the issue, warning that it only undermines the system instead of addressing the root problem of protecting health workers.
“Last year in Walewale, three nursing staff members were attacked. I didn’t see any official release from the health associations threatening a strike. We all want this to be treated purely as an isolated criminal case of misconduct at a health facility. There should be security to protect health professionals; why were there security lapses? The Minister is right to call for investigations because it is concerning how they were able to invade the premises without security.
“Ridge Hospital, as a facility, was supposed to report this incident to the police as an assault case. I don’t know whether they have done that. If they have, why are they calling on the Minister to effect arrests? Dragging the Minister into this makes it seem like it was a government official who assaulted the nurse. If we politicise these issues, we are degrading the system rather than addressing the real problems,” he said.
Source: Farida Seidu | Adomonline
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