Expose ‘bribe takers’ in Nursing and Midwifery Training Colleges - Health Minister

The Minister Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu has cautioned prospective applicants to public Nursing and Midwifery Training Colleges throughout the country to expose Principals and teaching staff who would try to take bribes from them under the guise of giving them admissions.

He warned that such persons once they are caught would be dealt with within the precincts of the law appealing to the applicants to help fight the bribery canker that has caught up well with some heads of health institutions in the country.

Mr Agyeman Manu also warned that any student or prospective applicant who tries to ease his/her way to gain admission through the issuance of bribes will equally not be spared reiterating his resolve to fight bribery in the system.

According to him, the Ministry of Health has set up investigation machinery to uncover any such incidents aimed at tarnishing the image of his ministry explaining that his out and its collaborators are putting in these measures in order not to compromise on quality of health and safety of the citizens.

At a press conference in Cape Coast in response to a Daily Graphic publication on August 9th that Admission of nursing schools will to go down as a result of a quota system raising concerns about an increase incidents of bribery and corruption, he stated emphatically that his Ministry had increased the intake of Registered Community Nursing (RCN) from 817 in 2016 to 2,346 this year.

Mr. Agyeman Manu added that as part of the effort to ensure equity in the training of all categories of health professionals, last year, the Ministry admitted 3,810 applicants into the registered midwifery category but has been increased to 4, 178 this year while Post NAC and Post NAP midwifery were also increased from 631 last year to 1,659 this year.

According to him, interviews are ongoing to admit students into the various health training institutions, afterwards, reports would be submitted to the Ministry for study assuring Ghanaians that the quota system is not a onetime event but a process.

“As we move forward as a nation, based on our yearly analyses and planning, some years may see increase in quota in certain professional course areas while other will decline” Mr. Agyeman Manu observed.

“We have the requisite skill-mix in right numbers of all health professionals in all hospitals”.

While emphasizing that government will ensure that some funds are made available for the prevision of clinical materials, classrooms and other resources needed for effective teaching and learning so that health training institutions would not depend solely on the revenue from school fees, he called authorities to also give off their best.