The Ministry of Health has announced the successful recruitment of 6,245 nurses and midwives out of a total of 6,500 available positions under a nationwide recruitment drive aimed at strengthening primary healthcare delivery, with a particular focus on underserved and rural communities.
The exercise forms part of a broader government initiative to expand access to free primary healthcare services. It is designed to deploy trained health professionals to areas where staffing levels are critically low, with the goal of improving the delivery of essential medical services across the country.
In total, the Ministry received financial approval from the Ministry of Finance to recruit approximately 8,000 health workers. This move comes against the backdrop of a significant backlog of about 105,000 unemployed but qualified health professionals nationwide.
Beyond the recruitment of nurses and midwives, the exercise also resulted in the appointment of 771 allied health professionals out of 900 available slots, 235 pharmacy professionals out of 250, and 300 physician assistants as part of the broader staffing programme.
Speaking at a press briefing in Accra, the Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Health, Frederick Mensah Acheampong, explained that although a small number of vacancies remain unfilled, particularly about 87 nursing positions in parts of the Northern regions, the process has been highly competitive due to the large number of qualified applicants.
He further noted that the recruitment process is aligned with the government’s Primary Healthcare Policy, which prioritises preventive healthcare, community based services, and the expansion of medical access in deprived communities.
He added that the Ministry has received financial clearance to recruit the 8,000 health professionals and acknowledged the growing public pressure surrounding recruitment exercises, especially given the large pool of unemployed health workers, some of whom have been awaiting placement since 2018 and 2019.
According to him, a mop up exercise will be conducted in the coming weeks to ensure that eligible applicants who were not captured in the initial phase are given another opportunity to be absorbed into the health service.
