The strike by members of the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists in the Ashanti Region is still in full force despite an injunction secured by the National Labour Commission (NLC) to stop them.

Many public laboratories Citi News visited in the Ashanti Regional Hospital on Saturday remained closed as the leadership of the Association insists that its members are still on strike.

The laboratories were locked, and the precincts looked virtually empty.

Members of the Chapter declared an indefinite strike that started on Thursday, 27th May 2021, following a one-week sit-down strike to protest the posting of two haematologists to the Laboratory Service Department of the hospital by management.

The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Association, Eric Kofi Aidoo, in an interview with Citi News on Saturday, May 29, 2021, maintained that their members are still on strike.

The management of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital on its part says it is still sticking to the interim arrangement of engaging the services of laboratory scientists from private facilities to fill the vacuum created by the strike.

The management says so far, all relevant stakeholders have been asked to forward their memos to the Ministry of Health to facilitate the mediation process.

Meanwhile, at the Maternal and Child Health Hospital in Kumasi, the hospital’s management has made an arrangement for NABCO personnel at the Laboratory unit to run tests for emergency cases.

Some parents who took their wards to the facility were however worried about the slow pace of the process as they had to spend several hours before they were attended to.

They are therefore calling on authorities to urgently address the matter to ensure effective health service delivery.

“We are pleading with leaders and those in authority to settle whatever the lab technicians are saying amicably,” one parent said.

“There are just a few lab scientists assisting with the work here. This is causing undue delay in the work. I have been sitting here since morning and I am yet to be attended to,” another parent said to Citi News.