4000 medical practitioners to be recruited

The Ministry of Health has been given financial green light to clear 4,000

According to the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, Robert Cudjoe, he is optimistic those cleared so far will begin work in a few months.

He said "the possibility that these people will be engaged in the next few months I believe is there."

He indicated that in over the past year, the government had recruited 17,000 medical practitioners of which 882 are medical officers and 395 are health officers.

Mr Cudjoe said 3,058 are general and mental health nurses, 1, 946 are midwives and 1,896 are community nurses with certificates and diplomas.

He said Health assistants were 3,918 while 2,576 are allied health professionals with 1,312 being degree holding nurses. Pharmacy technicians comprised 97.

The rest are 14 physician assistants, 89 field technicians and 90 technical assistants as well as 48 technical officers, 55 health promotion officers and seven lab technicians.

The number also included 35 dental surgery assistants and 36 technical officers for nutrition.

"The government policy was that it didn’t want people to continue sitting at home but to clear all of them [and] it’s been able to recruit 17,009. Some of them have sat home for the past four years or so," Mr Cudjoe explained.

He expressed concern about some junior doctors complaining about their recruitment after government had secured clearance for them.

"We had already secured their clearance and we’re working towards it," he noted.