Govt to sign health worker recruitment agreements with US and UK

The Government is expected to sign Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the United States and the United Kingdom in the coming months to facilitate the structured deployment of Ghanaian health professionals to work in both countries.

Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, disclosed this during the matriculation ceremony for 145 post-basic specialised nursing students at the Kumasi Nursing and Midwifery Training College (NMTC) and the ENT Nursing School in Kumasi under the government's Mahama Care initiative.

The new intake comprises 99 students at the Kumasi Nursing and Midwifery Training College and 46 students at the ENT Nursing School. They will receive specialised training in cardiology, nephrology, endocrinology and oncology.

Mr Akandoh said the proposed agreements with the United States and the United Kingdom would build on Ghana's existing health worker deployment arrangement with Jamaica, under which several Ghanaian health professionals have already been deployed in batches.

According to the Minister, the programme is intended to promote structured labour migration while generating economic benefits for Ghana through remittances from health workers employed abroad.

He, however, assured that the government would put in place safeguards to prevent shortages in critical areas of the health sector, stressing that highly specialised professionals in disciplines where Ghana faces severe workforce deficits would not be permitted to leave the country.

The Minister said the government was simultaneously expanding specialist training programmes locally to meet both domestic healthcare needs and growing international demand for skilled health professionals.

As part of reforms in the health sector, he said the Ministry had introduced a competency-based curriculum for nursing education and was upgrading several institutions to offer post-basic specialist programmes.

The institutions include the Kumasi Nursing and Midwifery Training College, Korle-Bu Nursing and Midwifery Training College, the ENT Nursing School in Kumasi, Tamale Nursing and Midwifery Training College, and the Critical Care and Perioperative School at Korle-Bu.

Mr Akandoh revealed that following successful pilot programmes at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Tamale, the Ministry has enrolled 500 nurses into specialised training this year.

He said the annual intake is expected to increase to at least 1,000 nurses over the next three years.

The Minister further disclosed that more than 30 scholarships had been secured for health tutors to pursue doctoral studies, with additional scholarship opportunities expected in the near future.

He explained that the expansion of specialist nursing training forms part of efforts to strengthen the country's capacity to manage non-communicable diseases and other complex medical conditions, improve patient outcomes and accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.

Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr Frank Amoakohene, urged health professionals to embrace continuous learning, noting that although artificial intelligence and robotics are transforming healthcare, they cannot replace the empathy, ethics and human judgement required in patient care.

He encouraged healthcare workers to continually upgrade their knowledge and skills to remain relevant in an increasingly technology-driven healthcare environment.

The Principal of the Kumasi Nursing and Midwifery Training College, Dr David Benjamin Sampson, appealed to the government to provide additional infrastructure to support the expansion of specialist training.

He called for the establishment of a satellite campus at Nkoranza in the Atwima Kwanwoma District, the completion of ongoing infrastructure projects at the ENT Nursing School at Abuakwa, and the provision of information and communication technology facilities and transport for both institutions.

Dr Sampson also appealed for government intervention to address challenges students face in accessing study leave, describing the issue as a major obstacle to professional advancement.