The Health Accounting Staff Association of Ghana (HASAG) has warned that patients will be unable to access medication at health facilities if the association goes on strike due to the absence of accounting staff to process payments and verify bills.
Speaking on Citi Eyewitness News on Friday, June 20, the National Secretary of HASAG, Setosafia Knit Fiawoyife, explained the critical role accounting staff play in the healthcare delivery system, stressing that their absence would bring services to a halt.
鈥淚f we go on strike, there will not be any accounting duties. And when there is no accounting duty, before services are rendered to you, a bill will be presented to you to go and make payment and produce a receipt before you can pick your medication. And if there is no accounting staff to do that, or the internal officer to verify whatever bill that has been given to you, service cannot be rendered to the person,鈥 he said.
HASAG members have threatened industrial action following an eight-month delay in the conclusion of their conditions of service negotiations. Talks, which began in November 2023, have stalled due to the failure of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to respond to multiple requests to resume discussions.
The association has given the FWSC until Monday, June 23, to re-engage or face a nationwide strike.
Fiawoyife cautioned that should the Commission fail to act within the deadline, 鈥渢he association will have no option but to activate industrial action.鈥