MINISTRY OF HEALTH RECRUITS OVER 700 TUTORS TO BOOST HEALTH TRAINING
The Ministry of Health has recruited over 700 clinical staff from various hospitals to improve on the Tutor-Student ratios in the Nursing and Midwifery Training Colleges across the country.
The Sector Minister, Hon. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, in a speech delivered on his behalf, said the Ministry had engaged one of the Universities to run a Master of Education for Teaching in Higher Education programme for the over 700 recruits.
The speech was delivered at 16th Annual General Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Health Training Institutions (COHHETI) in Bolgatanga on the theme: “Quality Assurance and Accreditation in the Training of Healthcare professionals: The Anchor for Quality Training training.”
Hon. Agyeman-Manu explained that health staff in the clinical area had extensive clinical experiences, but lacked what it took to teach in the classroom to boost the training of middle level health professionals.
“The Ministry is in the business of building the capacity for the training schools to ensuring quality training in terms of accreditation,” he added.
Hon. Agyeman-Manu said the Ministry of Health and the Health Training Institutions existed to manage the Training Institutions in terms of policy direction.
He said it was ,therefore, necessary that the Health Ministry provided the needed support to all Principals of Health Training Institutions to champion the agenda in the training of quality of health staff.
On the issue of the conditions of work and schemes of service, the Minister said they were about 75 percentage complete with the process, and gave the assurance that before the end of 2023, the Ministry would approve it.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Hon. Stephen Yakubu, said the policy announced by the Ministry of Health was the surest ways to ensuring that the health Institutions produced professionals to deliver quality healthcare services.
He charged the nurses and midwifes to improve on their professionalism and how they related to patients, especially at the Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) of healthcare facilities, noting that some health staff neglected patients and stayed glued to their phones at work.
Prof Ahmed Abdullai Jinapor, the Acting Director General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), who delivered the key-note address, said in a world where the well-being of individuals depended on the competence and skills of healthcare professionals, ensuring the highest standards of education and training was not just a matter of choice but a moral imperative.
He said the quality of healthcare education was the cornerstone upon which the foundation of any nation’s healthcare system rested.
“It doesn’t only affect the lives of individuals but also determined the overall health and well-being of a society,” the Professor said.