Story: News Desk
Doctors at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) have declared an indefinite suspension of all emergency and outpatient services.
They cited a hostile working environment, lack of basic medical supplies, and what they described as an insult to their dignity by top government officials.
In a statement released after an emergency general assembly meeting held at noon on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, the Doctors’ Association of Tamale Teaching Hospital (DATTH) announced that its members would no longer offer services at the General OPD, Antenatal Clinic, Specialist Clinic, and Paediatrics OPD.
“Inpatient care shall continue for our clients currently on admission until they are safely discharged,” the statement clarified.
At the heart of the doctors’ protest is the fallout from an incident during the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh’s visit to the hospital on April 22, 2025, and what the doctors have described as “false and biased reportage” from several media outlets covering the visit.
They demand unqualified apologies from the Health Minister and Tamale North MP, Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini, to Dr. Valentine Akwulpwa, the entire medical staff, and specifically the team at the Accident and Emergency Department.
“We shall resume provision of emergency and outpatient services after we receive appropriate apologies,” the doctors declared.
But beyond the call for apologies lies a staggering list of infrastructure and resource deficits that the doctors said make effective medical care nearly impossible.
In their statement, the association presented a catalogue of urgent and medium-term demands, including:
- Constant water and electricity supply
- Steady provision of oxygen and critical medical consumables such as gloves, cannulae, syringes, disinfectants, and glucometer strips
- Reagents to keep lab services running
- Vital signs monitors for high-dependency units
- Ventilators for various wards, including neonatal, pediatric, maternal, and emergency units
- Transport ventilators and incubators
- Repairs to essential sterilisation equipment
In the medium term, the doctors asked for high-tech diagnostic and treatment tools, including an MRI machine that doesn’t rely on helium, a CT scan with an infusion pump, Mammography and fluoroscopy machines.
Others are C-arm for theatre, ABG machines in all ICUs, and Mobile X-ray units.
“We shall advise ourselves if there is failure to achieve the above within the shortest possible time,” the statement warns.
The doctors also demanded public retractions and apologies from media houses that carried what they describe as “false and biased reportage” of the incident.
Until such apologies are made, DATTH said it would not engage with those media outlets. And the warning doesn’t stop there.
The doctors said that if any member feels threatened while performing their duties at the hospital, they will “immediately remove themselves from such hostile environment” in the interest of personal safety.
