Government approves financial clearance for about 3000 health professionals

Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye, the Deputy Minister of Health, has announced that the government has concluded a financial clearance process for about 3,400 Allied Health professionals across the country.

He said the financial clearance would give the opportunity to the health professionals to apply for postings, which would be open soon in the coming weeks to the various public health facilities across the country.

“We had a backlog of close to 4,000 people. As we speak, the government has given financial clearance for about 3,400 and the portal will be open in the coming weeks for them to go online and apply and be posted across the country,” he said.

Dr Okoe-Boye gave the announcement at the 8th induction and swearing of oath ceremony of Allied Health graduates organized by the Allied Health Professions Council in Accra.

The ceremony saw the induction of 170 graduates made up of 57 Doctor of Optometry graduates and 113 Doctor of Medical Laboratory Science graduates.

It was on the theme; “The Role of Allied Health Professional-During and Post COVID-19”.

He said Allied Health Professionals played key roles in the health sector, hence, the need for the clearance by government to employ more hands and asked them to accept postings to deprived communities.

He expressed regret that newly recruited often rejected postings to other regions, saying, “especially when you see people that have been posted to other regions coming back for reposting to the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions specifically. This is worrying because you cannot have a situation where about 80 per cent of all our staff in only two regions,” he added.

The Deputy Minister, thus, urged medical professionals to be willing to go to any part of the country as there were more opportunities outside Accra and Kumasi.

He congratulated the inductees saying, “there are so many opportunities that can support your career, so accept postings as they come”.

Dr Samuel Yaw Opoku, the Registrar, Allied Health Professions Council, congratulated the inductees for their six years of education to get to their final stage.

He said due to the COVID-19 pandemic the induction and swearing of oath ceremony had been divided into six batches, four in Accra and two in Kumasi adding that, “all the ceremonies will be held in the morning and afternoon”.

Dr Opoku noted that Allied Health Professionals played important roles and therefore asked for the needed recognition to enable them to make the real difference in the lives of their clients to improve the healthcare delivery system.

He appealed to the government to do something about the long stay of the health professionals at home after their internship programmes for the population to benefit from their services.