More than 3000 nurses have left Ghana since 2020 in search of better opportunities – GHS

The Ghana Health Service has revealed that a total of 3,688 health personnel have left the country to seek greener pastures within the last three years.

The Ghana Health Service says the figure comprises professional and critical caregivers.

Some health professionals leaving the country have cited poor working conditions in Ghana as the reason for vacating their positions to seek greener pastures abroad.

The Ghana Health Service, as part of efforts to address the worrying concern, said it has revised and doubled study leave for unprofessional nurses as far back as 2021 and anticipates that by the middle of next year, most of these unprofessional nurses that took advantage would have qualified to fill the gap created.

But the Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, while debating on the Health Ministry’s 2024 budget, said the government must consider an increment in remuneration to deal with the trend.

“Mr. Speaker, I think that we should look at the remuneration [of nurses]. If we look at the compensation, it was over and above what was allocated and if people have left, the compensation should then climb up. We should do a proper audit of the nurses who have left to know the deficit and should be able to employ to replace those who have exited.”