GHS calls for urgent review of health workforce strategy

Ghana's Director of Nursing and Midwifery, Dr Eva Mensah, has called for an urgent review of the country's health workforce strategy to tackle shortages and improve deployment and retention of specialist health professionals. She warned that investments in hospitals and medical equipment would not lead to better health outcomes without a sufficient number of adequately trained nurses, midwives and other health professionals.

During the 11th Annual General Meeting and 6th Scientific Conference of the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives (GCNM) in the Central Region, Dr Mensah highlighted the need for an overhaul of specialist health workforce planning, ensuring the right number of professionals with appropriate skills are deployed to where they are most needed.

Ghana's changing disease burden, particularly the increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), demands an expansion of specialist skills, with NCDs accounting for 43 per cent of all deaths. The staffing norms, established in 2014 and revised in 2015, are no longer sufficient to meet the evolving healthcare needs and must be reviewed promptly.

Dr Mensah also stressed that specialist training should be tied to employment opportunities, career progression and professional responsibilities to ensure highly trained personnel are assigned roles that fully utilize their expertise. Additionally, stronger measures are required to retain health professionals, as migration remains a significant challenge to the health system.

The Ministry of Health pledged its commitment to a continually evolving health sector that can respond to changing patient needs, with a focus on equitable distribution of health professionals to improve outcomes.