Government is meeting health sector labour demand

Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance, says due to deliberate government actions to improve the human resource base in the health sector, the nurse to patient’s ratio has improved considerably.

He said a nurse currently takes care of about 800 patients, a ratio which is higher than that of the World Health Organisation that requires a nurse to attend to 1,000 patients.

Mr Ofori-Atta said this on Monday when delivering the Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review of the 2019 Budget Statement and Economic Policy and Supplementary Estimates in Parliament in Accra.

The Minister said as a result of various interventions, the government had been able to produce enough nurses to meet domestic requirements and deploy some to support other countries.

In this regard and in line with the National Human Resource Policy, the Minister said plans were underway to formalise the migration of nurses to foreign countries beginning with Barbados and the United Kingdom.

Regarding other measures to ensure healthcare, Mr Ofori-Atta said the government in April commenced the delivery of medical supplies using drones service to CHPS compounds, health centres and hospitals in Eastern and Ashanti regions.

He gave an assurance that the service would be extended to the Northern and Western Regions by the end of the year.



Mr Ofori-Atta recounted that the rehabilitation and upgrading of Tamale Teaching Hospital Project Phase II were completed and commissioned in early, 2019.

He said the construction and equipping of five polyclinics in the Greater Accra Region at Adentan Obojo, Ashaiman, Bortianor, Oduman and Sege was completed and commissioned and that a number of projects in the sector were on-going.