The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Head of Public Relations, Mustapha Salifu says the Hospital’s attention has been drawn to a story in sections of the media that levelled false accusations against the authorities of the Hospital.

He said the story falsely claims that the Hospital was denying Anaesthestists the opportunity to go on their annual leave.

Mr Salifu said the Hospital has not denied any Anaesthetists the opportunity to go on their annual leave.

The facts are that when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, the responsibility fell on the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to mobilise the staff not only to fight the outbreak in Korle Bu but to join the broader national effort at combating the disease.

In this respect, staff of the Anaesthesia department, Internal Medicine and allied specialties in the Hospital were mobilsed to join the national team to prepare the nation for the fight against the pandemic.

Some staff were recalled while those who were due to go on annual leave were asked to suspend to support the broader national cause. Some were assigned to other hospitals within the metropolis while other special arrangements were made within the Hospital to contain the situation.

It is important to point out that the teams gallantly discharged their duties to the collective national effort and the Hospital is proud and grateful to them and all the Covid-19 teams in the Hospital for their contributions.

However, as the cases receded, various departments in the Hospital including the Department of Anaesthesia arranged and resumed their routine operations. It was also decided that those whose leaves were suspended would now have the opportunity to go on their leave.

“We were therefore surprised to read this story based on an anonymous source that the Management of the hospital is denying some staff the right to enjoy their well-deserved annual leave. The right to go on leave is enshrined in law and nobody can deny anyone that right.

“We conclude by stating categorically that the story is a fabrication and has no foundation in fact and should be disregarded completely.”

He used the opportunity to urge the general public to ignore such false reportage and commit to the adherence of the COVID-19 safety protocols – wearing of facemasks, hand hygiene, physical distancing etc so as to avoid a resurgence of the disease in our country.