13 Doctors reject postings to Central Region - Report

Healthcare delivery in the Central Region could soon grind to a halt as newly trained medical doctors are refusing postings to the area in view of the high cost of living, MyNewsGh.com reports.

The Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Alexis Nang Beifubah who is worried over the development, disclosed that the area is sitting on a time bomb readying itself for explosion and the earlier measures are taken to curtail the canker the better for residents and other stakeholders.

What is more worrying he revealed, was the fact the region which was recently given financial clearance by the Ministry of Finance for the recruitment of newly qualified medical officers made up of 13 medical officers and three dental officers but none turned up

He revealed at the 2018 Central Regional Health Sector Annual Performance Review meeting that out of the stated number, only four of them responded to their invitation for the recruitment interview because of some of these challenges but even with conditions.

Dr. Nang Beifubah said two of the four indicated that they chose the Central Region because they wanted to be at the Kasoa Polyclinic and that anything short of them being posted to the Kasoa Polyclinic means that they would not take up the offer.

True as the newly trained doctors indicated none returned to pick up their appointment letters after the interview describing the situation as worrisome with less than 40 medical doctors manning the 429 health facilities in the area.

According to him, it is about time the policymakers at the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service put in place practical strategies to address the canker saying “otherwise we all may be sitting on a time bomb which could explode embarrassingly in our face one day”.

In a bid to address the acute shortage of doctors in the region, he explained that his outfit has proposed and designed some incentive packages for implementation by district health directorates with support from the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.