President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo has urged all medical professionals to accept postings in underserved areas of the nation where their skills are required.
Speaking on Friday, June 16, at the University of Ghana’s School of Nursing and Midwifery’s 60th anniversary celebrations, he urged the staff to follow in the footsteps of their forebears who agreed to serve anywhere in the nation when the situation was much more dire than it is now.
His remarks are in disagreement with the rejection of some medical experts to accept postings in rural communities in some parts of the country.
“Our schools of Nursing and Midwifery have got a good reputation and have been training good nurses and midwives who easily find work in all parts of the world.
“But the nurse-population ratio in our country remains unsatisfactory after 66 years of our nation. We currently do not have the number of healthcare professionals with the right mix of skills and expertise in some of our regions, districts, and deprived communities, especially in the newly-created regions and districts.
“Nurses refusing postings is particularly distressing. I want to use this platform to encourage all health practitioners to follow the worthy example of your great forebearers who readily accepted postings in their early years at a time when the national infrastructure was even more harrowing than it is.
“Therefore I am appealing to you as passionately as I can to accept postings to all regions and district hospitals where your services are needed the most,” he said.
On Saturday, June 10, 2023, the National Service Scheme Secretariat (NSS) published postings for a total of 12,295 nurses.
The posts apply to employees who registered for the 2023–2024 service year and will be performing their one-year mandated national service at a variety of licensed health institutions around the nation.
