Dismiss Ashanti Regional Director of NSS

The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has called for the immediate dismissal of Mr. Alex Poku Mensah, Ashanti Regional Director of the National Service Scheme for allegedly assaulting a nurse on duty at Manhyia District Hospital in the Ashanti region.

Mr Mensah, is said to be the father of the House Officer who had a misunderstanding with the nurse at the hospital.

The GRNMA in a release issued in Accra on Tuesday, said nurses and midwives of Manhyia Hospital will be called upon to lay down their tools, followed by the whole of Ashanti Region and then it will be escalated to the whole nation if the government does not relieve Mr. Alex Poku Mensah of his duty as Ashanti Regional Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS) within 72 hours, .

The statement signed by Perpertual Ofori-Ampofo, President of the GRNMA and its secretary David Tenkorang-Twum, said Mr Mensah was not fit for the Director position he holds in the Public Service.

It said Mr Mensah had no right to enter Manhyia District Hospital and verbally abuse and threaten the nurse in question who was on duty at the time.

“As a Director, he should have known that Manhyia District Hospital had a Medical Superintendent and a Nurse Manager under whom the nurse works and if indeed he had any complaint to make, they were the people he should have engaged and not to go to the hospital and fight the nurse on behalf of his daughter,” it said.

The statement urged the management of Manhyia Hospital to ensure that the House Officer is schooled on her role in the Medical Team and the fact that Nurses and Midwives are patients’ advocates and will continue to advocate for their patients and clients even if it makes another member in the team uncomfortable.

“ In this particular instance, the nurse had used her own phone and her own call credit to call the said House Officer to come to the hospital and log into the E-Health system and update the patient’s prescription order so that the patient is not billed for unissued drugs,” the statement said.

The statement called on the management of the hospital to take all the professional staff through Team Building and Team Work to foster unity of purpose at the facility in order for peace and harmony to prevail at the facility.

It called on all nurses and midwives at the Manhyia District Hospital to remain calm and go about their normal duties and wait for further directives from the leadership of the Association which will happen if need be.

“Nurses and Midwives around the country are also called upon to continue providing quality nursing and midwifery services to the good people of Ghana and not to be distracted by the actions of Mr. Alex Poku Mensah and his daughter,” it said.

The statement directed the GRNMA Ashanti Regional Branch leaders to report the matter of Mr. Alex Poku Mensah’s verbal abuse and threats on their comrade to the Police immediately and report on same to the GRNMA Headquarters.

It called on all persons holding high positions in the Public or Civil Service to appreciate the fact that, the positions of authority or service they hold, simply involve responsibility to the public and never must be used to threaten, undermine or intimidate the same people it is supposed to serve.