Nurses and Midwives Begin Nationwide Strike Over Unfulfilled Promises
The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has announced a nationwide withdrawal of key healthcare services effective Tuesday June 4, 2025, in protest against the government’s failure to sign and implement their agreed conditions of service.
According to the Acting Public Relations Officer of the GRNMA, Mr. Philemon Agyapong the withdrawal affects services at the Out-Patients Department (OPD) public health units antenatal and postnatal clinics, specialist clinics and emergency care across all public health facilities in the country.
Mr. Agyapong advised the general public to avoid visiting public hospitals and clinics during this period as nurses and midwives will not be available to attend to them.
The withdrawal of these services means that anyone leaving home to visit any public health facility should return because there would be no nurses or midwives on duty to attend to them, he said.
The current service withdrawal is expected to last until Saturday, June 8, 2025. However, the GRNMA has issued a stern warning that if their demands are not met the strike will escalate.
From June 9, 2025, the withdrawal will affect all patients on admission, whether an emergency case or not; these patients will have no nurse on duty to attend to them,” Mr. Agyapong cautioned.
The leadership of the association expressed disappointment in the government’s handling of the issue. Mr. Agyapong revealed that the association reached an agreement with the government on improved conditions of service as far back as May 2024, but the deal has not been honoured.
We are disappointed because our conditions of service were not signed. Our members feel disrespected. We care deeply about patients, which is why we issued a roadmap and did not withdraw our services all at once. We should be given credit for that,” he emphasized.
The GRNMA is calling on the government to act swiftly to resolve the issue to avoid a total collapse of health services across the country.
Healthcare users and stakeholders are now anxiously waiting to see how the government will respond in the coming days to avert a more severe disruption in public healthcare delivery.
This development highlights ongoing tensions between health professionals and authorities over labour conditions in Ghana’s health sector.