The Ashanti Regional Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Alex Opoku-Mensah, has been suspended with immediate effect.
The suspension follows Mr. Opoku-Mensah’s raid on the Manhyia Hospital in the Ashanti Region, where he reportedly assaulted a nurse for allegedly abusing his daughter, a doctor there.
According to a statement from the NSS, the choice was decided on November 30 at an urgent meeting between Mr. Opoku-Mensah and the Scheme’s management.
“The management’s decision is to allow further investigation into the alleged verbal assault on a nurse on duty at the Manhyia Government Hospital in Kumasi,” part of the statement read.
A committee made up of members from the National Service Scheme, the Public Services Commission, and the Ministry of Education has been established in the interim to look into the situation and deliver a report to the NSS Management within a month.
On Monday, December 5, 2022, Mr. Opoku-Mensah is anticipated to appear before the Committee.
Background
Mr Opoku is reported to have marched to the Manhyia District Hospital and confronted a nurse who drew the attention of his daughter to a task she had failed to execute.
His daughter, a House Officer, is said to have failed to log into the E-health system and update the patient’s prescription order. The patient would have been billed for unissued drugs but for the intervention of the nurse.
Mr Opoku’s daughter who was displeased by the incident reported the matter to her father who accused the nurse of being envious of his daughter.
The matter was brought to the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association’s attention after the media reported the story.
Reacting to the issue, the Association faulted the Ashanti Regional Director for the National Service Scheme, adding that Mr Opoku “had absolutely no right to
enter Manhyia District Hospital and verbally abuse and threaten the nurse in question who was on duty at the time.”
According to the Association, Mr Opoku should have followed due process by reporting to a Medical Superintendent or a Nurse Manager under whom the nurse works.
In view of his misconduct and gross disregard for law and order, the Association wants Mr Opoku sacked from his current position latest by Friday, December 2, 2022.
Should the government fail to relieve Mr Alex Poku Mensah of his duty as Ashanti Regional Director of the National Service Scheme within 72 hours, “nurses and midwives of Manhyia Hospital will be called to lay down their tools, followed by the whole of Ashanti Region and then it will be escalated to the whole nation.” after registering.
Nurses and midwives at the Manhyia District Hospital have been urged to remain calm and go about their normal duties as they wait for further directives from the leadership of the Association.
Meanwhile, the Association has called on 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 patient’s advocates and “will continue to advocate for their patients and clients even if it
makes another member in the team uncomfortable.”
They are also calling for a Team Building and Team Work for all staff of the hospital to foster unity of purpose at the facility.
On the other hand, Alex Opoku-Mensah has rendered an unqualified apology for his recent actions.
“ This has never been my style but for a genuine reason to mediate a persistent issue between my daughter (doctor) and a colleague nurse who I as well consider my daughter. I do apologise for any mishap and assure all, there shall not be a repetition of such,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
Source: The Independent Ghana