Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Minister of Health, Monday said the Government will from November pay salaries to the outstanding 6,500 nurses and midwives who have been unemployed since 2020.
This follows an approval from Cabinet to the Finance Ministry to issue financial clearance and migrate them unto the payroll.
The nurses are part of the 13,500 nurses who completed their rotation in 2020.
Addressing a news conference in Accra on Monday, the health minister said the 10 months arrears owed 3,000 out of the 6,500 nurses and midwives would also be paid in tranches with immediate effect.
Mr Akandoh said 7,000 out of the 13,500 were employed and had been on payroll since January this year.
He explained that 1000 were initially placed on the payroll at the time their clearance had expired, leaving 3,500.
“Out of the 10,000 of these nurses migrated onto the payroll, 3,000 did not have their data fully processed even though they received their ID cards and they are the ones who have worked for 10 months without salaries,” the Minister said.
He noted that 15,755 rotational nurses and midwives and 2,154 allied health interns on rotation for 13 months in 2024 without allowance would also be paid from next month.
“We are determined to ensure that from next month, all outstanding payments are made, and the current rotation nurses and allied health interns will start receiving their monthly allowance,” he said.
Mr Akandoh said currently about 883 junior doctors, who were employed in 2024, had been migrated unto the payroll.
Financial Clearance has been issued for 800 medical doctors who completed their housemanship in 2024 but remained at home due to a lack of financial clearance.
The Ministry has worked on clearance and payment for the 321 Pharmacist who completed their house job in early 2024, the Minister said.
Meanwhile, Madam Sandra Frimpong, Leader of the Unemployed Nurses and Midwives group of 2021 – 2024, appealed to the Government to expedite actions to address the backlog of unemployed health professionals.
Currently, more than 70,000 nurses and midwives who completed training over the past four years are awaiting employment from the Government.
