Patients in public health facilities across the country face a looming healthcare crisis as the Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anaesthetists warns of potential fatalities should its scheduled industrial action proceed on 1 December 2026.
The association has threatened a complete withdrawal of services following years of stagnant working conditions, poor remuneration, and an escalating workforce deficit that continues to paralyse surgical procedures nationwide.
Speaking on Rainbow Radio’s flagship news bulletin, Nyankonton Mu Nsem, the National Public Relations Officer for the association, Seth McAndoh, disclosed that leadership has been forced into taking drastic measures after exhausting every internal mechanism to resolve their grievances.
“While striking is not the association’s preferred course of action, we have been pushed to the wall after four years of unfulfilled promises and employer neglect,” McAndoh stated. “It is not our desire to strike, but circumstances have led us here. Our contributions in the healthcare sector are crucial. We play a major role, and yet we have not been recognized.”
The ongoing neglect has left practitioners operating under immense physical and psychological strain. According to the association, the continuous refusal of the authorities to review compensation packages has shattered morale across the board, accelerating a severe brain drain that leaves remaining staff severely overwhelmed.
Highlighting the critical nature of their work in operating theatres and intensive care units, McAndoh cautioned that the government’s delay in addressing their plight will directly put human lives at risk.
“We could record several deaths without the involvement of anaesthetists because the services provided in our health facilities cannot be underestimated,” he warned. “This strike action could lead to several deaths, and we call on authorities to act now.”
To avert the total collapse of safe surgical care in the long term, the association is demanding immediate state investment in training institutions and specialized infrastructure. Leadership noted that tailored training programmes focusing on paediatric care, gynaecology, ear, nose, and throat procedures, and general surgery are urgently required to expand the workforce and relieve the intense pressure currently placed on the few practicing professionals.
With the deadline fast approaching, the association maintains that only concrete financial and operational commitments from the government before December 1 will prevent a nationwide shutdown of anaesthetic services.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana