Member of Parliament for Effiduase/Asokore and ranking member of parliament’s health committee Nana Ayew Afriye has backed doctors at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), after they launched a strike over the suspension of the facility’s chief executive, Dr (Med) Paa Kwesi Baidoo.

He argues that authorities should focus on addressing chronic healthcare infrastructure challenges rather than punishing administrators.

Doctors at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi began a total withdrawal of services on Saturday, demanding the reversal of the suspension of the hospital’s CEO and urgent government action to ease severe congestion at the hospital’s emergency department.

The industrial action was announced by the Komfo Anokye Doctors Association (KADA), which described the suspension as “unjustified and counterproductive” amid efforts to manage mounting pressure on the hospital’s facilities.

In a Facebook post Nana Ayew Afriye said the government’s response was misplaced.

“Suspending the CEO at KATH is needless. Government should invest in existing Accident and Emergency facilities. I stand by the doctors,” Afriye said.

The legislator also questioned delays in operationalising the recently built Sewua Hospital and Afari Military Hospital in the Ashanti Region, facilities expected to help reduce pressure on KATH.

“Minister of Health and NDC, how far?” he wrote, referring to the governing National Democratic Congress administration. He further alleged that equipment at Sewua Hospital was at risk of theft because the facility had not yet been fully operationalised.

KADA said its members unanimously voted to withdraw services after reviewing conditions at the hospital and developments surrounding the CEO’s suspension.

According to the doctors, the CEO’s decision to temporarily halt new emergency admissions and coordinate referrals to nearby health facilities was a necessary intervention to protect patients and staff as overcrowding worsened.

The association said KATH, the main tertiary referral centre serving Ghana’s middle and northern sectors, continues to operate under severe infrastructure constraints despite increasing patient numbers.

As conditions for ending the strike, the doctors called for an immediate review and reversal of the suspension, the adoption of clear protocols for managing situations where emergency facilities exceed capacity, and accelerated efforts to operationalise Sewua Hospital and Afari Military Hospital.

They also urged the Ministry of Health to provide timelines for retooling KATH and other hospitals in the Ashanti Region to improve healthcare delivery.

The strike is expected to intensify pressure on healthcare services in Kumasi and surrounding regions, where thousands of patients depend on KATH for specialist and emergency care.