DAILY GUIDE has gathered that the out-patient department of Takoradi Hospital, the second major health facility in the Western Region, was boycotted by the nurses of the hospital on the night of Tuesday, May 10, 2016.

According to sources, the nurses who were supposed to take over from their colleagues for night duties on that fateful Tuesday evening refused to report to duty because of lack of security at the hospital.

Some patients who divulged the news to DAILY GUIDE claimed that when they got to the OPD around 12:30 am, the place was virtually deserted and that there was no single patient present as all the seats were totally empty.

They asserted that the absence of nurses at the hospital on that night virtually brought work at the OPD to a halt because the doctor on duty could not take up additional responsibilities as a nurse.

“When I got to where patients pick their cards, there was a middle-aged man sleeping on a bench, so I woke him up and inquired from him why the place was virtually empty and he confirmed to me the nurses refused to report to duty because according to them, there were no enough security at the place. But added that he was one of the night security personnel,” one of the patients narrated.

He disclosed that because of the alleged shortage of security personnel at the health facility, patients who visited were turned away and when DAILY GUIDE inquired whether there was any doctor at post, he answered in the affirmative.

He claimed that a physician assistant who was on duty also confirmed the boycott by the nurses because of lack of security.

“I checked from the pharmacy department and they were at post though they seemed to be virtually on holiday just as the physician assistant because of the absence of nurses,” the patient asserted.

A female patient believed to be in her late 60s also claimed she was at the hospital at about 4:00am to treat an ailment on Wednesday, but there was no nurse to take care of her so she had to go to the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Hospital in Takoradi for treatment.