Government to recruit 40,000 nurses next year

The Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has announced that the government will recruit 40,000 nurses in February next year to help deliver quality health care to all.

He said this year, the government did not recruit even one nurse because of constraints and budgetary concerns, adding that it was working to ensure that financial clearance was given for the nurses to be recruited in February next year.

Mr Agyeman-Manu announced this at the opening of the 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Conference of Heads of Health Training Institutions (COHHETI) in Tamale last Monday.

The week-long AGM afforded members of COHHETI the opportunity to discuss issues of the health sector such as achieving universal health coverage,

It was on the theme: “Contemporary healthcare delivery: The role of health training institutions and other stakeholders”.

Mr Agyeman-Manu, therefore, urged unemployed nurses to be patient as the government put in place measures to employ them.

NaBCo to augment

The minister was hopeful that by the end of this year, about 20,000 nurses would be recruited under the Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo) to augment the staff strength of the various hospital facilities across the country.

He advised nurses to register for NaBCo recruitment as it was an important government intervention, whose remuneration was even better than what some public sector workers received, adding that working under NaBCo would ensure that they did not forget what they learnt in school.

The President of COHHETI, Madam Monica Nkrumah, appealed to the government to release the second batch of financial clearance such that the 400 temporary workers at the health training institutions would be absorbed under the payroll to relieve the training institutions of added financial burden.

Madam Nkrumah appealed to all to support health training institutions with the needed teaching and learning materials, including current textbooks, to enhance the training of nurses and midwives.

The Northern Regional Minister commended the principals and heads of health training institutions for their immense contributions to the health sector to ensure quality healthcare delivery.

The Paramount Chief of the Sagnarigu Traditional Area, Sagnari Naa Yakubu Abdulai, who chaired the event, appealed to the government to adequately resource hospitals to provide quality health care to all, such that people did not have to travel abroad for medical treatment. —GNA