The Finance Ministry has given the Health Ministry the clearance to engage the services of 54,892 health workers until the end of the year.

The Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, disclosed this when he took his turn at the Meet-The-Press series in Accra Thursday. He said a majority of those recruited were outstanding workers from 2012 to 2016. 

According to him, the days of applications getting lost are over as the Ministry has also launched an electronic platform to facilitate recruitment and placement of staff at health facilities including the private trainees.

The platform, he explained, will eliminate the traditional system, which delays the recruitment and placement process.

“There was a big embargo because of our International Monetary Fund (IMF) engagement such that government could not recruit,” he said. 

He said when they came into office in 2017, based on promises from the President’s campaigns they sort to solve the problem once they got the clearance.

Mr Agyeman Manu said the days of graduates picketing at the Ministry almost every day, are over. 

“These days when you come to the Ministries, you won’t see anyone picketing because they are all on the field working...and to facilitate our recruiting faster, the Ministry has launched an electronic platform for that as well as a placement of staff at health facilities,” he said.

Commenting on the restored allowances for nurses in the various health training institutions, the Minister said, a total of 57,000 trainees are benefiting from the restoration exercise at a cost of ¢20.400,000 per month.

“Hundred per cent of total commitment amounting to ¢210.8 million for 2017/18 academic year has been paid whereas Government has also paid the first seven months of 2018/19 academic year. And ¢57.8 million warrant has been released for the payment of the rest of the month,” he announced.

The Health Minister was hopeful that, the recruited health care workers will help boost the quality of healthcare delivery in the country.

According to Mr Manu, the Ministry is strategising to look at health by refocusing government’s role from sole service provider to partner with other service providers including the private sector. 

“We are investing in health and strengthening health systems, adopting a people-centred approach to services and not disease-centred approach. We are focusing on compressive leveraging of traditional and alternative medicine as a compliment,” he said.