The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has outlined a comprehensive plan to support healthcare workers in Ghana, including the establishment of a College of Allied Health Sciences to train nurses and offer scholarships for nursing tutors.
The NDC Parliamentary Candidate for Lambussie, Professor Titus Beyuo addressing the media at the party headquarters highlighted the NDC’s plans to address the human resource challenges in the healthcare sector. “What is in our 2024 manifesto for health workers, the human resource? The next administration is planning to establish a College of Allied Health Sciences for postgraduate medical training, especially training for these cadres of health workers.”
Professor Beyuo noted the administration’s plan to introduce degrees and specialist training programs and scholarship to study PhD programs. “We plan to introduce a degree and specialist training program for colleges of nursing to improve the skill of our nursing care to that level. In deference of that, we are providing scholarships, and opportunities for nursing tutors so that when we convert their schools to degree-awarding institutions, they will have the caliber of teachers to offer that tutor services there. So they’ll be given scholarships to study PhD programs in preparation for that transformation.”
Professor Beyuo emphasized on the NDC administration plans to establish additional campuses for the University of Health and Allied Sciences and a medical school in the former Brong-Ahafo region.
“The next NDC administration plans to complete the establishment of additional campuses for the University of Health and Allied Sciences at Keta and Bator. His Excellency’s government from January 2025 plans to establish a medical school in the former Brong-Ahafo region, currently the Bono East and Ahafu regions, and operationalize the Sunyani Teaching Hospital as a site for postgraduate medical training.”
He further elaborated “And for those who know how doctors are distributed in this country, when a medical school or a site of a medical school is open in any region, automatically, you have a lot of specialist consultants gravitating there to improve service delivery, research, and teaching. And so this will help address a more distribution of professionals in this country.”
Professor Beyuo stated the party’s plan is to introduce policies that will secure insurance for healthcare workers and provide financial protection to aid them in case of injuries in the line of duty.
“We intend to introduce one of my favorite policies, the risk exposure insurance for healthcare workers to provide financial protection and support in the event of injuries, or illness that we encounter in the line of duty. And I can tell you, and colleagues, doctors who are here will tell you, that when doctors, nurses, other healthcare workers fall ill in the line of their duty, sometimes we have to write to the president, they have to go on social media to raise funding just to manage conditions that they themselves have been taking care of other people, and they cannot afford it. “
Professor Beyuo noted their intentions to provide accommodation within the health facilities to aid healthcare workers. “So we intend to provide affordable accommodation within the premises of health facilities and offer home ownership schemes. And this one, I know all the unions are excited about this because they are putting in effort to acquire parcels of land in the various regions.”
“I’m the former General Secretary of the Medical Association, I know that we have done that, acquiring parcels of land for doctors in Wu, in Wai, in other regions. How will they build? And the home financing scheme will come in handy there. We intend to reward healthcare workers who accept postings to rural communities and underserved areas with a decent 20% of their basic salary as an allowance, but in addition to that, a shorter service period for promotions and study leave, if you accept to serve Ghanaians in those areas.” Professor Beyuo stated.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Nukpeta Yaa Dorcas
