Medical staff at Tamale Teaching Hospital have suspended all emergency and outpatient services indefinitely following a confrontation between hospital physicians and Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh.
The strike action, declared late Tuesday, April 23, 2025, comes after what doctors describe as unacceptable treatment during the minister’s visit to the facility.
In their strike notice addressed to government officials, the Doctors’ Association of Tamale Teaching Hospital (DATTH) outlined seven key demands, including public apologies from both the health minister and Tamale North MP Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini to Dr. Valentine Akwulpwa and hospital staff. The physicians emphasized they will only resume services after receiving these apologies and securing concrete improvements to the hospital’s infrastructure.
The striking doctors highlighted critical equipment shortages compromising patient care, demanding immediate provision of basic medical supplies like gloves, sutures, and disinfectants, along with essential equipment including 100 patient monitors and 16 ventilators across various departments. Their medium-term demands include advanced imaging equipment like an MRI scanner that doesn’t require helium and a fluoroscopy machine.
“While we continue inpatient care for current admissions, we cannot in good conscience maintain emergency services under current conditions,” the statement read, citing unreliable utilities and inadequate resources that endanger both patients and staff. The association also called out media outlets for what they termed biased reporting of the incident with the health minister, demanding retractions before engaging with those media houses again.
This labor action spotlights the deteriorating conditions at Northern Ghana’s premier referral center, with physicians now refusing to work in what they describe as “hostile environments.” The standoff presents a significant challenge to the Health Ministry, coming just days after controversial leadership changes at the hospital and amid ongoing tensions between medical professionals and political appointees over healthcare governance.
Hospital management now faces mounting pressure to address both the immediate staff grievances and systemic resource deficiencies, with patient care hanging in the balance. The strike’s duration may hinge on how quickly government officials can negotiate solutions to the doctors’ extensive list of concerns while repairing damaged professional relationships.
