The Conference of Heads of Health Training Institutions (COHHETI) is calling for increased government investment in infrastructure and the recruitment of more teaching staff to meet growing demand for health professional training in Ghana.
The conference says rising enrolment, coupled with limited classrooms, skills laboratories, accommodation and teaching personnel, is putting increasing pressure on health training institutions and could affect the quality of training if urgent action is not taken.
COHHETI says sustained investment in infrastructure and human resources is critical to strengthening the capacity of health training institutions and producing competent professionals capable of contributing to the achievement of Universal Health Coverage.
The call was made at the Annual Health Training Institutions Conference in the Ashanti Region, held under the theme “Bridging Pathways and Harmonising Entry Standards for Quality Advanced Health Training.”
The conference brought together key stakeholders in health professionals’ education to discuss ways of improving training standards, expanding opportunities for advanced training and strengthening Ghana’s health workforce.
COHHETI President, Jemimah Fati Ackon, said “the growing number of students entering health training institutions must be matched with deliberate investments in infrastructure and staffing.”
She said the current situation is putting pressure on institutions and could undermine efforts to improve the quality of health professional training.
The concerns come as the Ministry of Health implements new policies aimed at expanding specialised training opportunities for health professionals.
As part of the reforms, the Ministry has introduced new post-basic specialised nursing programmes in selected health training institutions across the country.
Director of Human Resource and Health Development at the Ministry of Health, Frederick Mensah Acheampong, urged principals of health training institutions to strictly comply with approved admission guidelines to ensure that the expansion of training does not compromise quality.
COHHETI has, meanwhile, pledged to ensure transparency and fairness in the admission process, saying merit-based selection is essential to producing the right calibre of health professionals and protecting the quality of healthcare delivery.
The conference is expected to strengthen collaboration among health training institutions, regulators and policymakers as Ghana works to build a resilient health workforce capable of responding to emerging healthcare challenges.
By Kwaku Acheampong
