The Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA) is grappling with a severe manpower shortage as it struggles to regulate more than 30,000 health facilities nationwide with only 137 staff.
Registrar of the agency, Dr. Winfred Korletey Baah, disclosed the worrying situation in an interview on Business Edge on Metro TV, noting that the staff strength is inadequate to meet the regulatory mandate.
“We don’t have enough staff. Across the country, we have about 137,” he lamented.
“We are supposed to monitor and license thousands of facilitiesfrom big hospitals to small clinics, maternity homes, and laboratories. The numbers just don’t add up.”
HeFRA, established under Act 829 of 2011 to regulate both public and private health facilities, currently oversees over 6,200 licensed facilities, with thousands more awaiting inspection or renewal.
Dr. Baah estimated that Ghana may have as many as 33,000 active facilities, including CHPS compounds, clinics, diagnostic centres, and specialised units – most of which have not been fully captured or licensed.
To mitigate the shortfall, HeFRA has resorted to contracting temporary staff and using external assessors in some regions.
“We’ve taken on about 33 contract staff and recruited some regional assessors we train to assist in monitoring,” he explained.
“We are doing our best, but the reality is that we are overstretched.”
Despite the challenges, the Registrar said the agency is taking steps to decentralise its operations and introduce digital tools to improve efficiency.
“Previously, most inspections were coordinated from Accra,” Dr. Baah said.
“Now, regional offices are leading licensing activities. We have doubled the number of licences issued this year compared to last year.”
He added that HeFRA has also launched an online licensing tool to begin registering over 6,000 CHPS compounds, many of which have never been officially licensed.
“We went live with the digital system this week to help CHPS compounds apply and renew their licences online. It’s faster, cheaper, and helps us cover more ground.”
Dr. Baah appealed to the Ministry of Health and the Public Services Commission to urgently expand HeFRA’s staffing to enable more frequent inspections, public education, and compliance enforcement.
“You cannot regulate a whole country’s health system with just 137 people. We need at least 1,000 officers to operate effectively,” he stressed.
“We are dealing with lives. If facilities are not properly monitored, people’s safety is at risk.”
HeFRA has, in recent months, intensified enforcement against unlicensed health facilities, closing down 52 institutions found to be operating illegally or under unsafe conditions.
Dr. Baah reiterated that the agency’s mission is not punitive but preventive – to ensure quality healthcare delivery across Ghana.
“Everybody wants the best for this country,” he said.
“When you walk into a hospital, you should feel safe. That is why we exist to protect lives.”
