Kwaku Agyeman Manu – Minister of Health
The government has announced that it is in the process of employing more nurses for the health sector.
A statement signed by Deputy Minister of Health Tina Mensah said they are engaging nurses who completed their training between 2012 and 2016, when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) led by John Mahama was in power but failed to find them jobs.
Per the statement, all nurses who attended accredited private or government health institutions are being absorbed.
“The Ministry of Health wishes to inform the general public, specifically private and public trained nurses who completed their training from 2012 to 2016 from accredited Health Training Institutions across the country that recruitment will commence from Monday, 1st July, 2019 at 9:00 am,” according to the statement.
The statement entreated that “qualified trainees are requested to formally apply online by logging-in onto the online application portal with this address: http://hr.moh.gov.gh and follow the instructions to select the preferred agency under the Ministry of Health,” adding that “deadline for submission of application is Friday, 12th July, 2019.”
In March, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) announced that it would be giving some 20,084 nurses financial clearance for employment.
The financial clearance hint was given by President Akufo-Addo in February after the trained but unemployed nurses voiced their concerns.
The debate rekindled early this month when the President outlined plans to collaborate with the government of Barbados to pave way for Ghana to send over 300 nurses to the Caribbean country.
President of the Registered Nurses and Midwives Association, Dr. Kwaku Asante Krobea, in a response, had said that the arrangement could benefit the nursing sector by creating vacancies for other unemployed nurses.
The Ghana Registered Nurses Association, on the other hand, expressed the fact that the gap in the country’s nursing sector should be addressed before such agreements are considered.
Minister of Health Kwaku Agyemang-Manu recently said arrangements to send some Ghanaian nurses to work abroad were underway, and disclosed that the process to organise working visas had started.
Countries that the government is considering include Japan, Australia, and Canada.
By Melvin Tarlue