Doctors at the Oncology Department of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) are intensifying their protest over the prolonged malfunction of the Linear Accelerator System used for radiotherapy services.

On Monday, June 24, health workers abandoned consultation rooms, citing delays in repairing the crucial equipment, which broke down in October 2023.

Although the machine has been repaired, management explains that it remains non-operational as they await the arrival of a water phantom needed to calibrate the system.

The delays in getting the equipment, essential for treating various cancers, up and running have left doctors at the Oncology department increasingly frustrated.

Dr. Opare Larbi, the Deputy Medical Director at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital described the strike by the doctors as unfair.

“Why would you want the other patients who do not use radiotherapy to suffer because the radiotherapy machine is not working? Because I believe that if someone is on chemotherapy or on any treatment that involves injecting medication to treat their cancer and the radiotherapy machine is not working and you decide to withdraw your services totally for those who are not on radiotherapy to suffer, it is not fair.

“We have tried to reason out with them [management] a lot on this issue.”