The Ghanaian government and the British government are about to reach a bilateral deal to send nurses with Ghanaian training to the UK in exchange for financial benefits, according to the health minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu.
This will be akin to an existing agreement with Barbados, where Ghanaian nurses, in his opinion, are flourishing, said Mr. Agyemang Manu.
“Mr. Speaker, as you are aware, we’ve started sending our nurses outside on a bilateral basis and the agreement we signed with Barbados has sent the second cohort of nurses to Barbados. Mr. Speaker, why would they come for both? Now, in Barbados, what we hear is the fact that patients are requesting Ghanaian nurses to be at their bedside and I think that is a plus for us,” he said.
Speaking on the Floor of Parliament during the 2023 Budget debate on Monday, December 5, he said, “We are engaging with the government of the United Kingdom and we are just about signing a memorandum of understanding after Cabinet approval to begin to send nurses, even certificate nurses to go for training and work there and come back home after three years.”
“And, out of these nurses, Ghana is going to benefit from some little monies that the UK government will pass on”, He explained, “For every single nurse that goes away – when we finish the agreement – it’s likely we’ll get a £1,000 to come back to support our health system”.
Barbados acquired 200 additional Ghanaian nurses in March of this year to help with the island nation’s personnel requirements.
In a speech, Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Motley thanked the government for providing assistance to the health sector of her nation.
“We thank you, the government of the people of Ghana, for that most generous gesture, and we are heartened that they have made a huge difference to our public healthcare system; so much so that we have completed an interview for another 200 nurses to come to Barbados in the near future,” she added.
2019 saw the signing of a contract between Ghana and Barbados for the recruitment of nurses from Ghana.
About 190 Ghanaian nurses were initially hired as a result of the arrangement, which was signed at the Jubilee House when Mia Mottley paid a courtesy call on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during her official visit to Ghana.
Concerns had been raised about the relocation because it had been believed that the nurses may have been better integrated into Ghana’s Health Service.
By: Bernard Ralph Adams | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
