The Ministry of Health has defended its recent recruitment of health professionals, saying the process was guided by the government’s free primary healthcare policy and the need to strengthen healthcare delivery in rural and deprived communities.
Addressing the press, Director of Human Resource for Health Development at the Ministry of Health, Frederick Mensah Acheampong, said the ministry received financial clearance to recruit about 8,000 health professionals despite a backlog of more than 105,000 unemployed health workers across the country.
According to him, some of the unemployed professionals have been waiting for recruitment since 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
“This recruitment exercise was heavily guided by the objective of the free primary healthcare policy with emphasis on strengthening preventive care, community-based care and primary healthcare particularly in underserved areas of the country,” he said.
Mr. Acheampong explained that allocations were based on staffing needs submitted by health agencies including the Ghana Health Service and the Mental Health Authority.
He noted that unlike previous recruitment exercises which largely prioritised registered general nurses and midwives, the latest process gave significant attention to nurse assistants preventive and registered public health nurses.
“These two professions supported about 40 percent of the 6,500 recruited nurses because the emphasis at this point in time is on free primary healthcare and home-based care,” he explained.
The ministry also introduced a new digital recruitment portal aimed at decentralising postings directly to districts to help address long-standing staffing imbalances.
Under the system, applicants selected their preferred districts directly instead of receiving central postings from the ministry.
“The ministry will not have any role to play again. It is the districts that will hold interviews and onboard successful applicants,” he said.
Mr. Acheampong disclosed that the platform recorded heavy traffic during the application period, with over 53,440 health professionals verifying their data on the portal.
Out of the total, nearly 30,000 accounts were created, while over 26,000 applicants completed profile creation.
The ministry said enrolled nurses recorded the highest number of applications nationwide with 4,158 submissions.
For the first time, a district in northern Ghana, West Mamprusi, recorded the highest number of successful applications, with more than 90 applicants selecting the district.
According to the ministry, this reflects efforts to redirect health professionals to underserved communities.
“Previously after recruitment, people would troop and ask for changes to work in the cities, but this time when you apply you go directly to the district,” Mr. Acheampong said.
The ministry further revealed that some vacancies, especially in northern Ghana, Upper West and Savannah regions, remain unfilled.
A mop-up exercise is expected to begin in the coming weeks to fill the remaining slots, including positions at teaching hospitals and specialised facilities such as psychiatric hospitals.
Mr. Acheampong also addressed concerns about fraud and middlemen during the recruitment process.
He said the ministry anticipated attempts by some individuals to exploit desperate applicants and had collaborated with security agencies to investigate such cases.
“Whenever we start this process, applicants should not avail themselves to these corrupt individuals because they will take your money and they will not be able to secure recruitment for you,” he warned.
Successful applicants will now be invited by their respective districts for document verification and interviews before being officially onboarded from July 1, 2026.
Beyond the current recruitment, the ministry says discussions are ongoing with the Ministry of Finance to secure additional financial clearance for more health professionals before the end of the year.
The ministry also announced plans to begin a volunteer recruitment programme targeting over 6,000 health professionals who completed school from 2022 onwards.
According to officials, the volunteer programme is expected to prioritise nurse assistants preventive and other critical support staff while preparing them for future recruitment opportunities.
He encouraged applicants to continue updating their profiles on the recruitment portal and report any discrepancies in their records directly to the ministry.
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