She said employing them was a favour from the government since there is no bond or MoU stating they should be given jobs by the state.
“One thing that I want to make clear to the private nurses is that we are not under any obligation to employ them, we don’t have any bond or MoU that states that they should finish and we employ them," she said on Starr Chat with Bola Ray.
"It’s a favour we’re doing them and not obligatory, I want to make it clear to them that it is not when they come and picket that is when we employ them. When they picket that does not tickle us because we have to go to the Finance Ministry and it’s from one purse that everybody is chopping from, every ministry is getting its budget from the Finance Ministry so it’s as and when it’s possible that we employ people,” she added.
The Coalition of Unemployed Private Nurses have threatened to hit the streets over the government’s inability to offer them employment.
The coalition maintains that its members deserve to be employed into the mainstream health sector, just like other state-trained nurses.
Addressing journalists at a press conference, the coalition accused the government of prioritizing state-trained nurses over them.
According to them, whiles financial clearance has been given to state-trained nurses, private nurses have only been frustrated in their attempts to get their own financial clearance.
This, the coalition, described as discriminatory and very regrettable, and have threatened to demonstrate if they government does not respond within the next 10 days.
“There is no plan to recruit privately-trained nurses into the mainstream health sector like is being done for state-sponsored nurses. The Government made it clear that it will continue to give priority to nurses from public trained when the President said in the 2019 state of the nation address,” PRO of the Coalition, Doreen Boateng said.
“This is a clear example of discriminatory injustice, so we are giving the government 10 working days to reply this letter and we will press on our demands until civil society gets to understand that we are being treated unfairly and until Government hears us we are going to hold a mega demonstration dubbed ‘Ku me preko’ to share our grievances.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has revealed plans to commence the recruitment of some health professionals.
In a statement signed by Chief Director Nana Kwabena Adjei-Mensah, the Ministry said it is looking to recruit qualified general nurses, midwives, mental nurses, registered community health nurses and allied health professionals.
Qualified persons are required to submit their applications on Thursday, 28th March 2019, the statement added.