Nurses & Midwives Give Government 3 Weeks or We Picket Jubilee House

JoJoe Bucknor-Baffoe//www.12onlinenews.com//jojoemakorlly@gmail.com

The National executive Board of Ghana Nurses and Midwives Training Assistance GNMTA has given the Government three weeks to permanently enroll graduate unemployed nurses and midwives from the 2016 batch.

GNMTA demonstration

The Northern Zonal Public Relation officer of the GNMTA said this in a petition delivered to the Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed after a demonstration on the principal streets of Tamale. Mr. Abdul Rafik in a statement said, the association is much concern about the welfare of trainees and unemployed midwives and nurses in the country.

He expressed their grievances as an association, the challenges nurses and midwives are facing due to one nurse to twenty-five patient’s ratio which hinders the health goal to be achieved under the Sustainable Development Goals.

“If the Government should permanently enroll our qualified and registered nurses to the health sector, unemployment rate will reduce and the health sector will be in good standings to provide quality health care to the citizenry.”

According to Mr. Abdul Rafik, there are about 17,672 registered and licensed nurses and mid wives who are currently unemployed with additional 9,191 diploma registered nurses and midwives who are currently do their National Service.

There are about 10,000 nurse assistants’ clinical and nurse assistants’ preventives of 2017 batch who have acquired their auxiliary identification to practice as professionals and an estimated 18,000 auxiliary nurses and midwives to complete this year.

He said, the association is calling on the government to financially clear and enroll the 2016 batch as soon as possible to avoid the subsequent batches, sitting long at home before being permanent employed.

Mr. Abdul Rafik stated that, the longer they stay at home dormant, there more the nurses and midwives lose all knowledge and skills acquired during their training in schools.

The association was happy to that, 27,000 nurses and midwives were captured in the first quarter of the 2018 budget but we are in the month and still we have not seen any development, he added.

He disclosed that, if the matter is not attended to by the government of the day, GNMTA will as an association picket the Jubilee House to the President.

Hon. Salifu Saeed receiving the GNMTA petition 

The Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed receiving the petition assured the demonstrators of fast tracking the petition to appropriate authorities for immediate response and actions.

Salifu Saeed lauded the association for a peaceful demonstration and urged all civil societies and youth groups to emulate when seeking governments interventional policies.

JoJoe Bucknor-Baffoe//www.12onlinenews.com//jojoemakorlly@gmail.com