Dr. Kwame Asiedu Sarpong, a health policy fellow at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), has described the dismissal of Dr. Adam Atiku, the Chief Executive Officer of Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) as neither a solution nor an end in itself.
Speaking on PM Express with Evans Mensah on JOYNEWS monitored by Kumasimail, Dr. Asiedu Sarpong emphasized that while holding leaders accountable is important, the act of removing the CEO does not address the underlying issues that led to the crisis at the hospital.
“Failure does not get rewarded, so removing the person with ultimate responsibility if failure is perceived is the right decision by the ultimate decision-maker,” he stated.
However, he cautioned that this action alone fails to address the root causes of the hospital’s persistent challenges.
He said “The sacking in itself is neither a means to an end nor an end to a means. It is not the solution and should not be seen as such.”
Dr. Asiedu Sarpong questioned whether the failure was solely the CEO’s responsibility or if there were broader, systemic issues at play.
He argued that if there are mitigating circumstances beyond the CEO’s control, such as longstanding equipment problems or lack of resources, then the judgment of the decision-maker in this case, the Health Minister—should also be scrutinized.
“Is the failure ultimately the CEO’s responsibility, if that’s yes then the second is absolutely unquestionably right, if there are other mitigating circumstances to the firing that are beyond the scope and the reach of the CEO then you can question the judgment of the ultimate decision maker which in this case is the Health Minister”.
He further noted that if the CEO had previously raised these issues with authorities and received inadequate responses, it would be important to consider whether he had taken all professional steps possible, including the option to resign if his position became untenable.
Dr Sarpong remarked “If you know these things preexist and they predate you, is there evidence that you have for example had conversations with the predecessor of this health minister, can you show that in those conversations you have called for the repair of these equipment or whatever mitigating circumstances they are to be addressed and what responses have you got and
“Ultimately if you felt the responses you got are not good enough have you taken the professionally most credible decision of walking away because you realize that your position has been made untenable by the inability of those who have put you in trust of that facility to honor their part of the bargain as in giving you the right tools to work if you’ve not done that then ultimately you become part of the problem”, he concluded.
Source :www.kumasimail.com /Kwadwo Owusu
