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Doctors and pharmacists in public hospitals, who resumed duty yesterday after nearly a month-long strike, had little work to do as a result of poor patient attendance. Though medical personnel at public health facilities have resumed full duty, after embarking on a four week strike action to back demands for certain conditions of service, their comeback appears to have witnessed a cold reception from their clients, as reports indicate there were not enough patients to attend to. Checks by The Chronicle at some public health facilities in the city, including the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) and Suntreso Government Hospital yesterday, revealed relatively low attendance at the Out-Patient Departments of the Polyclinic, though personnel had fully assumed duty. The Out-Patients Department of the KATH Polyclinic, for instance, which usually records hundreds of cases daily, witnessed very few patients, whilst the situation at the admission wards was not different, and also at the recovery wards. The Accident and Emergency Unit, which was used by management as a make-shift place to accommodate patients due to congestion, was equally empty, with only a few recovery patients. A staff at the hospital confirmed to The Chronicle that all the doctors and pharmacists at the hospital had resumed operations, but however, stated that the patients� attendance was not encouraging. He noted that the situation may be due to the fact that lots of patients may not be aware of the resumption of duty. �Yes, they have all resumed duty, but the patients are not coming; it is probably because most of them may not have heard the information, because it was made just two days ago. I am sure as the days roll by, they will come,� he observed. Efforts to get the President of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr. Kwabena Opoku Adusei, who is also the Medical Superintendent of the Suntreso Government Hospital, did not materialize, as several calls to his cell phone number received no answer. However, information received from the hospital indicated that the situation was not different from that of KATH, though staff there attended to some minor cases yesterday morning. It appears patients in the city may have already been used to the situation, after being compelled to patronise private health facilities for almost a month now. In Accra, Bernice Bessey�s visit to some hospitals and polyclinics in the capital revealed that the wards and outpatient departments were virtually empty. The doctors embarked on the strike following long standing disagreements with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission on the payment of their market premium, as part of the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure The doctors had, among other things, impressed on the government to pay all arrears accrued to them, while negotiating for a better market premium. The government, on the other hand, had asked to make these payments in three installments, which the doctors refused, resulting in the standoff between the government and the doctors, which led to the continuation of the strike. At the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Kaneshie, and Korle-Bu polyclinics, for example, the usual heavy turnout was virtually absent at the Out Patient Department (OPD) which was virtually empty. According to the Public Relations Officer at Korle Bu, Mustapha Salifu, the low turnout was a result of the fact that most patients were not aware that the doctors had returned to work, due to the late announcement of the call off of the strike on Tuesday evening. He hinted that although the doctors embarked on sit-down strike, some compassionate ones still remained at work attending to patients. He added the doctors were happy to return to work, since it was their responsibility to help patients. The Vice President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr. Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, told Joynews yesterday that the association has finally received a written commitment to their demands from the government.