Accra: Mr. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Minister of Health, announced on Monday that the Government will begin paying salaries to 6,500 nurses and midwives who have been unemployed since 2020, starting in November. This development comes after the Cabinet approved the Finance Ministry's issuance of financial clearance to include them on the payroll.
According to Ghana News Agency, these nurses are part of a group of 13,500 who completed their rotation in 2020. At a news conference in Accra, the health minister disclosed that the arrears owed to 3,000 out of the 6,500 nurses and midwives, which have accumulated over ten months, would be settled in tranches immediately. Mr. Akandoh further stated that 7,000 of the 13,500 nurses have been employed and have been receiving salaries since January this year.
He elaborated that 1,000 nurses were initially placed on the payroll after their clearance had expired, leaving 3,500 without employment. Among those migrated to the payroll, 3,000 had not had their data fully processed, despite having received their ID cards, causing them to work for ten months without compensation.
The Minister also noted that 15,755 rotational nurses and midwives, along with 2,154 allied health interns, who have been on rotation for 13 months in 2024 without allowances, will start receiving payments 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 affirmed.
Additionally, Mr. Akandoh mentioned that approximately 883 junior doctors employed in 2024 have been added to the payroll. Financial clearance has been granted for 800 medical doctors who completed their housemanship in 2024 but were awaiting employment due to a lack of clearance. The Ministry is also processing clearance and payment for 321 pharmacists who completed their house jobs in early 2024.
In response to these announcements, Madam Sandra Frimpong, Leader of the Unemployed Nurses and Midwives group from 2021 to 2024, urged the Government to expedite actions to resolve the employment backlog of health professionals. Presently, more than 70,000 nurses and midwives who completed their training over the past four years are still awaiting government employment.
