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The Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anaesthetists has indicated that the performance of surgeries at all health facilities across the country may cease next year if the government fails to set up a council to manage the affairs of its members.
For weeks now, the group has been threatening to break away from the Medical and Dental Council, citing incompetence on the Council’s part.
In an interview with Citi News, the Immediate Past President of the Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anaesthetists, Jacob Wumbei indicated that members of the association will not renew their membership with the Medical and Dental Council next year in a bid to draw the government’s attention to their concerns.
“The purpose for which the Council was created has been defeated. The Council only takes money from us to renew our certificates and that ends it. The council is not interested in our wellbeing in any way.”
“We are not going to renew our certificates with the Medical and Dental Council, and we expect the Ministry of Health to quickly set up a Council to address our issues. We need the Ministry to do this by January next year, else we will be forced to withdraw our services.”
Parliament, through the amendment of the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act 857; changed their names from Physician Assistants-Anaesthesia to Certified Registered Anaesthetists and ordered the Medical and Dental Council to apply the necessary conditions of service.
The Association has complained about the amendment’s lack of regard for their carrier progression and the lack of management opportunities for its members.
The Association also says that the Medical and Dental Council’s approach of introducing a new curriculum for their training in a bid to change the already existing Bachelor of Science Anaesthesia to Bachelor of Science Physician Assistants is a clear violation of the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act 857 (Act 2013).
It has in the past claimed that the push for the name change is being resisted by Doctor Anaesthetists.
Anaesthetists are known as advanced practice nurses who administer anaesthesia for surgery or other medical procedures.
They work in collaboration with surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, podiatrists, and other professionals to ensure the safe administration of anaesthesia.
Anaesthesia is the administration of medication to allow medical procedures to be done without pain, and in some cases, without the patient being aware during the procedure.
