The Ministry of Health has informed the general public, “specifically private and public trained nurses who completed their training from 2012 to 2016 from accredited health training institutions across the country” that “recruitment will commence from Monday, 1 July 2019 at 9 a.m.”

A statement signed by Deputy Minister of Health Tina Mensah on 25 June 2019 said: “Qualified trainees are reported to formally apply online by logging on to the online application portal with this address https://hr.moh.gov.gh and following the instructions to select the preferred agency under the Ministry of Health”.

The ministry said the deadline for submission of applications is Friday, 12 July 2019.

The recruitment announcement comes barely two weeks after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in principle, agreed to a request by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, to send some 375 Ghanaian nurses to Barbados to work in a number of their government medical facilities.

This came to the fore when President Akufo-Addo and Prime Minister Mottley held bilateral talks on Friday, 14 June 2019 in Bridgetown, Barbados, after the Ghanaian leader paid a day’s working visit to the Caribbean country.

Addressing a press conference in the aftermath of the bilateral discussions, the Barbadian Prime Minister stated that: “We have indicated that we are searching for just under 400 nurses, so, it is not a small number, and we really do believe that this is a wonderful opportunity of co-operation between our two countries.”

In addition, she noted that there was also an initial promise to secure the nurses, and provide joint education programmes going forward in an attempt to secure Barbados’ healthcare sector.

For his part, President Akufo-Addo indicated that: “We have a surplus of nurses in Ghana, and placing them all in our public health system is one of my headaches. There have been a lot [of nurses] produced, which, for several years, we have not been able to do anything with.”

He continued: “So, I am going back. I will be back in Accra on Monday, and, the week after, the Prime Minister will hear from me on this matter of nurses.”