The authorities of the Ghana Health Service in the Ashanti Region have disclosed that the mass exodus of health workers to seek greater pastures abroad is taking a great toll on healthcare delivery in the region.

According to the authorities, over 300 health workers have left the Health Service in the Ashanti Region to pursue better opportunities abroad.

This data, the authorities say is for only the first quarter of 2023.

According to the Regional Health Director, Dr. Emmanuel Tenkorang, these 304 health workers, comprising of doctors and nurses all applied for leave without pay.

Further investigations conducted by the directorate indicate that the majority of these workers have traveled overseas in search of improved living conditions.

“When we did the analysis for the first quarter of 2023, we realized that about 304 applied for leave without pay which means that they have left the service, but additional information indicates that most of them have left the country and these are very skillful health workers with the right knowledge, attitude, and skill to do the job, but it seems that they have been attracted outside the country,” the Regional Health Director explained.

Dr. Tenkorang further admitted that this brain drain has left a detrimental effect on healthcare delivery in the region.

“This is worrying in the sense that these are workers that we need to run the health system in the country and the government is doing well by providing health infrastructure and if our people are leaving the country, how do we run this system?,” he further quizzed.