Minority: Gov’t must Engage the Trained but Abandoned Professional Health Workers to Improve Healthcare Delivery

The Minority Group in Parliament has called on the government, to as a matter of urgency recruit the trained health personnel who are currently at home waiting for job placement so they can help improve health delivery in the country.

At a press conference in parliament on Thursday, the ranking member on the Health Committee, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, who doubles as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Juaboso, stated among others that, the government must first prioritize the needs and engage the trained, qualified and licensed health services professionals before considering recruiting other groups of persons into the health sector. This according to him will mitigate the impact of the dwindling work force at the country’s health sector.

He said the minority finds it “highly unfortunate and irresponsible” that over 1,000 trained-doctors and degree and diploma nurses are idling at home while waiting for absorption into the public health system.

He advised the government to desist from recruiting untrained and unlicensed high school levers into the health healthcare.

According to information revealed by the minority, Ghana is currently working within the limits of scarce resources, and has in excess of 19,000 diploma-nurses, 10,729 degree-nurses and 1,000 trained-doctors who have been abandoned by the government.

Therefore, “the minority is urging the government to rescind its decision of recruiting untrained SHS levers into the healthcare system,” Akandoh noted.

By Nana Yaa Kyeretwie