The government has employed 170,830 health professionals from 2017 to 2023 in an initiative aimed at enhancing the healthcare sector.
Recruitment numbers included 10,061 professionals in 2017, followed by 11,021 in 2018, a significant increase to 40,201 in 2019, some 51,671 in 2020, another 26,368 in 2021, a new batch of 7,020 in 2022, and 24,488 in 2023.
This effort has notably reduced a backlog of health workers, particularly nurses trained between 2012 and 2016, who had struggled with unemployment under the previous administration.
Backlog as at 2016
The backlog in 2016 was estimated to involve around 80,000 professionals, many of whom held multiple demonstrations demanding employment.
Quotas imposed in 2015
In response to rising unemployment among graduates of nursing training colleges, the government in 2015 imposed quotas on admissions to nursing training colleges.
Schools that previously admitted 200 students per programme were directed to cut enrollment to 100 students per programme for courses like State Registered Nursing, Community Health Nursing, and Certificate Nursing.
The Ministry of Health explained that limiting training admissions would enable the state to maintain the ability to employ graduates, helping to prevent further job market saturation.
Backlog as at 2024
Currently, an estimated 60,000 trained health professionals remain unemployed.
Faced with this ongoing issue, many nurses have continued to stage protests demanding public sector jobs.
Government has issued financial clearance to employ part of the backlog before the end of this year.
Bonds cancelled in 2019
In 2019, the government discontinued the bonding system for trainee nurses and midwives.
Originally introduced in 2005 to curb health worker emigration, the bond required graduates to serve five years in Ghana before seeking work abroad.
A decade later, the government reviewed and ultimately scrapped the system to allow graduates more flexibility to pursue employment outside the public sector or overseas.
