REMOVE DR. EUGENE DORDOYE - Psychiatric Nurses Threatened HD
This is a very crucial moment for the staff of Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital,
especially the nursing staff. The ambience in this hall alone conveys a strong message beyond reasonable doubt that all is not well here in Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital.
The Psychiatric Nurses’ Group is a specialized group of the Ghana Registered Nurses and
Midwives Association; purposed to advance the interest and protect the welfare of psychiatric nurses, midwives and other category of nurses working within the entire spectrum of mental health facilities across the country.
In our quest to liberate the staff from oppressor’ rule and promote mental health care in Ghana. It is important to briefly recount the genesis of this near-industrial uproar that is about to hit Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital. We fear it may swipe and mar the good name that Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital has earned over the years and its vision to become the center of excellence in mental healthcare in the sub region. It is not our desire though, or wish to see this hour of unrest befalling the hospital and we do not pray for it to happen but if it becomes the only tool through which the staff of Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital can employ, after exhausting all avenues in search for solution to the myriad of problems engulfing us, we shall execute it without fear or favor.
It will be recalled that the staff of Ankaful Hospital, with a greater percentage being nurses and led by the Psychiatric Nurses Group (PNG) as their mouthpiece on the 20th October 2017 petitioned the Honorable Minister for Health, Mr. Kwaku Agyemang Manu to remove the Hospital Director of Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital in the person of Dr. Eugene Dordoye from Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital on grounds of oppressor rule, psychologically traumatizing the staff and other mismanagement in the hospital.
Following the petition, the Mental Health Authority set up “Facts Finding Committee” to investigate the issues raised against the Director in the petition. It is imperative to add that before PNG’s petition to the Health Minister, several peaceful attempts were opened from multiple fronts to have the issues addressed but the Director shot them down. The Facts Finding Committee also admitted that the MHA has received several anonymous letters and petitions decrying the behaviour of the Hospital Director and some calling for his immediate removal.
In PNG’s petition, we stated categorically and unequivocally that we do not want to work with our Hospital Director anymore on the grounds of the following:
Our fundamental human right is being trampled upon by the Director every day. He doesn’t
treat the staff with even a minimal level of dignity as though we are from a different planet.
The Director has no respect for the workers’ dignity. He picks personal problems with staff when they attend different hospitals for treatment and subsequently tender in excuse duty to the facility.
He would question the clinical judgment of the Medical Officer who is a signatory to the excuse duty. A pregnant woman who is a nurse at our facility was given an excuse duty for testing positive (++) to malaria test, the Hospital Director questioned the Physician Assistant why he gave the excuse duty to the nurse.
He embarrasses and uses derogatory remarks on staff, especially the nurses. He accuses staff wrongfully and demeans us in the presence of student nurses, patients and their relatives. This makes our patients who have witnessed his encounter with nurses lose trust in the very nurses taking care of them and on countless occasions some patients have disrespected nurses and told them that, “your Director said you don’t know anything’’.
We also stated in the petition that the Hospital Director has refused to allow the Psychiatric
Nurses Group to function in the hospital when the same group in other psychiatric hospitals is functioning peacefully and helping their facilities to develop. He has since refused to allow the group to use the conference hall for its meeting, describing the group as a welfare group and as such can’t use working hours to attend meeting when in actual fact, the hospital operates 24/7.
He has been making all-out effort to thwart the nurses right to freedom of association in sharp contravention of Article 24 Clause 3 & 4 of the Constitution of Ghana, which states clauses:
(3) Every worker has a right to form or join a trade union of his choice for the promotion and
protection of his economic and social interests.
(4) Restrictions shall not be placed on the exercise of the right conferred by clause (3) of this article except restrictions prescribed by law and reasonably necessary in the interest of national security or public order or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
Misuse of the hospital’s scarce resources by the Hospital Director was also raised in the petition and we have called for forensic auditing of the hospital.
It is worth reminding ourselves that the theme for his years’ Mental
Health Day celebration was “Mental Health in the Workplace”. It is sad to note that the psychiatric nurses of Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital who take care of people with mental and
psychological problems do not have sound mind to work with and take care of their patients and clients. The staff of Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital, especially the nursing staff are going through hell in the hands of the Hospital Director. We are emotionally and psychologically breaking down. We do not have peace of mind to care for our patients. We need peace; we need sound mind to care for our patients.
When the frog comes out of water and says the crocodile is dead, we do not challenge it. In the same vain, when mental health professionals who understand human behaviour and take care of the mentally challenged say they are breaking down psychologically and emotionally because of their Director's leadership style.
Facts Finding Committee sent by the Mental Health Authority commenced their investigations on 24th October 2017 and ended on 26th October 2017. They assured us that the findings of the investigation will be made available within one week but we are yet to hear from the Mental Health Authority.
The Psychiatric Nurses Group is informing the whole world, the Honorable Minister of Health and the MHA that we shall not continue to subject ourselves to this kind of mental torture at the workplace. A week ultimatum effective today, Wednesday 8th of November, 2017 to Thursday 16th of November, 2017 is hereby and duly served to the various stakeholders to hear the voice of the nurses and act accordingly if not we will advise ourselves by abandoningthe wards and OPD.
We still maintain our stand that WE CANNOT WORK WITH DR. EUGENE DORDOYE ANYMORE
Emmanuel Kojo Ofori
(PRO)
especially the nursing staff. The ambience in this hall alone conveys a strong message beyond reasonable doubt that all is not well here in Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital.
The Psychiatric Nurses’ Group is a specialized group of the Ghana Registered Nurses and
Midwives Association; purposed to advance the interest and protect the welfare of psychiatric nurses, midwives and other category of nurses working within the entire spectrum of mental health facilities across the country.
In our quest to liberate the staff from oppressor’ rule and promote mental health care in Ghana. It is important to briefly recount the genesis of this near-industrial uproar that is about to hit Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital. We fear it may swipe and mar the good name that Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital has earned over the years and its vision to become the center of excellence in mental healthcare in the sub region. It is not our desire though, or wish to see this hour of unrest befalling the hospital and we do not pray for it to happen but if it becomes the only tool through which the staff of Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital can employ, after exhausting all avenues in search for solution to the myriad of problems engulfing us, we shall execute it without fear or favor.
It will be recalled that the staff of Ankaful Hospital, with a greater percentage being nurses and led by the Psychiatric Nurses Group (PNG) as their mouthpiece on the 20th October 2017 petitioned the Honorable Minister for Health, Mr. Kwaku Agyemang Manu to remove the Hospital Director of Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital in the person of Dr. Eugene Dordoye from Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital on grounds of oppressor rule, psychologically traumatizing the staff and other mismanagement in the hospital.
Following the petition, the Mental Health Authority set up “Facts Finding Committee” to investigate the issues raised against the Director in the petition. It is imperative to add that before PNG’s petition to the Health Minister, several peaceful attempts were opened from multiple fronts to have the issues addressed but the Director shot them down. The Facts Finding Committee also admitted that the MHA has received several anonymous letters and petitions decrying the behaviour of the Hospital Director and some calling for his immediate removal.
In PNG’s petition, we stated categorically and unequivocally that we do not want to work with our Hospital Director anymore on the grounds of the following:
Our fundamental human right is being trampled upon by the Director every day. He doesn’t
treat the staff with even a minimal level of dignity as though we are from a different planet.
The Director has no respect for the workers’ dignity. He picks personal problems with staff when they attend different hospitals for treatment and subsequently tender in excuse duty to the facility.
He would question the clinical judgment of the Medical Officer who is a signatory to the excuse duty. A pregnant woman who is a nurse at our facility was given an excuse duty for testing positive (++) to malaria test, the Hospital Director questioned the Physician Assistant why he gave the excuse duty to the nurse.
He embarrasses and uses derogatory remarks on staff, especially the nurses. He accuses staff wrongfully and demeans us in the presence of student nurses, patients and their relatives. This makes our patients who have witnessed his encounter with nurses lose trust in the very nurses taking care of them and on countless occasions some patients have disrespected nurses and told them that, “your Director said you don’t know anything’’.
We also stated in the petition that the Hospital Director has refused to allow the Psychiatric
Nurses Group to function in the hospital when the same group in other psychiatric hospitals is functioning peacefully and helping their facilities to develop. He has since refused to allow the group to use the conference hall for its meeting, describing the group as a welfare group and as such can’t use working hours to attend meeting when in actual fact, the hospital operates 24/7.
He has been making all-out effort to thwart the nurses right to freedom of association in sharp contravention of Article 24 Clause 3 & 4 of the Constitution of Ghana, which states clauses:
(3) Every worker has a right to form or join a trade union of his choice for the promotion and
protection of his economic and social interests.
(4) Restrictions shall not be placed on the exercise of the right conferred by clause (3) of this article except restrictions prescribed by law and reasonably necessary in the interest of national security or public order or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
Misuse of the hospital’s scarce resources by the Hospital Director was also raised in the petition and we have called for forensic auditing of the hospital.
It is worth reminding ourselves that the theme for his years’ Mental
Health Day celebration was “Mental Health in the Workplace”. It is sad to note that the psychiatric nurses of Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital who take care of people with mental and
psychological problems do not have sound mind to work with and take care of their patients and clients. The staff of Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital, especially the nursing staff are going through hell in the hands of the Hospital Director. We are emotionally and psychologically breaking down. We do not have peace of mind to care for our patients. We need peace; we need sound mind to care for our patients.
When the frog comes out of water and says the crocodile is dead, we do not challenge it. In the same vain, when mental health professionals who understand human behaviour and take care of the mentally challenged say they are breaking down psychologically and emotionally because of their Director's leadership style.
Facts Finding Committee sent by the Mental Health Authority commenced their investigations on 24th October 2017 and ended on 26th October 2017. They assured us that the findings of the investigation will be made available within one week but we are yet to hear from the Mental Health Authority.
The Psychiatric Nurses Group is informing the whole world, the Honorable Minister of Health and the MHA that we shall not continue to subject ourselves to this kind of mental torture at the workplace. A week ultimatum effective today, Wednesday 8th of November, 2017 to Thursday 16th of November, 2017 is hereby and duly served to the various stakeholders to hear the voice of the nurses and act accordingly if not we will advise ourselves by abandoningthe wards and OPD.
We still maintain our stand that WE CANNOT WORK WITH DR. EUGENE DORDOYE ANYMORE
Emmanuel Kojo Ofori
(PRO)
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