The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has suggested to the government to roll out a comprehensive policy to retain health personnel in the country.
Nearly 150 experienced nurses and other health professionals from the Pantang Hospital have left Ghana in search of greener pastures in the last six years.
Of the number, 100 are specialised psychiatric and general nurses while the rest consist of doctors, pharmacists, technicians and other experienced personnel in the healthcare delivery chain.
Data sourced from the hospital showed that the number of experienced professionals that have abandoned their jobs started increasing in an alarming manner since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reacting to the development, the general secretary of the GRNMA, David Tenkorang-Twum told Asaase News that, “we need to have a comprehensive programme that will retain those who are staying.”
“If I work as a nurse or midwife and I need to pay for my own medication at the very hospital that I work at then clearly it is only a matter of time for them to become demotivated,” Tenkorang-Twum said.
“So far as nurses or midwives do not owe the state, they have every right to make life better for themselves … which is why we need a practical approach that will retain our health workers; not through force,” he added.
Reporting by Fred Dzakpata in Accra
Asaase Radio 99.5 broadcasts on radio via 99.5 in Accra, 98.5 in Kumasi, 99.7 in Tamale, 100.3 in Cape Coast and on our affiliates Bawku FM 101.5 in Bawku, Beats FM 99.9 in Bimbilla, Somua FM 89.9 in Gushegu, Stone City 90.7 in Ho, Mining City 89.5 in Tarkwa and Wale FM 106.9 in Walewale
Tune in or log on to broadcasts online: www.asaaseradio.com, Sound Garden and TuneIn
Follow us on Twitter: @asaaseradio995
Live streaming: facebook.com/asaaseradio99.5. Also on YouTube: Asaase Radio Official.
Join the conversation. Call: 020 000 9951 or 059 415 7777. Or WhatsApp: 020 000 0995.
#AsaaseRadio
#TheVoiceofOurLand
