Nursing and Midwifery Council suspends new foreign verification, other fees

The Nursing and Midwifery Council has suspended newly approved fees that took effect from March 1, this year.

The fees included foreign verification which increased from GH¢550 to GH¢3,000. The Governing Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Council took a decision to halt the implementation of the newly approved fees and charges at its meeting last Tuesday pending its review.

“This decision follows discussions with relevant stakeholders, regarding their concerns. In the meantime, the Council will revert to the previous fee structure,” the Governing Board said in a statement shortly after the meeting.

The council said it remained dedicated to upholding the highest standards of training and practice of Nursing and Midwifery for the benefit of the public. Daily Graphic checks indicate that the council has not revised its fees and charges for so many years.

Having raised the fees, particularly that of verification, it, however, had to suspend them because of backlash from some members who expressed concern about the sudden astronomical increase.

Nurses, midwives call off protests

Subsequently, the National Council of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has called off a series of intended actions in protest over the increment of the nursing verification fee from GH¢550 to GH¢3,000.

The decision to call of the intended action came after the Governing Board of the council decided to reconsider the implementation of the newly approved fees and revert to the previous fee structure.

The President of the GRNMA, Perpetual Ofori Ampofo, made this known at a news conference in Accra yesterday. She said after a successful discussion with the Ministry of Health and the Governing Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, there was the need to address the issue for the benefit of all parties.

Ms Ampofo assured members of the GRNMA leadership’s committment to engage with the relevant parties to ensure that any new verification was fair and acceptable to all. 

Background

The leadership of the GRNMA had outlined a series of protests to voice their objection to the new fees. This was after Parliament announced a significant increase in the cost of foreign verification from GH¢550 to GH¢3,000, representing a 445.45 per cent rise.

From March 22, departments and wards where nurses and midwives operated throughout the country were expected to be adorned with red bands as a symbol of protest.