The leadership of the Coalition of Unposted Nurses and Midwives has flagged what it calls ongoing neglect of thousands of qualified Ghanaian nurses and midwives left jobless despite finishing training and passing licensing exams.
At a press briefing, the Coalition warned that the recruitment hold-up risks weakening Ghana’s Health System (GHS) and is causing severe strain for affected workers and their households.
Speaking for the group, coalition leader Chris Asamoah Boateng said many nurses and midwives from the 2021 batch have stayed unemployed for over five years after clearing their licensing tests.
“Today, we stand before you with heavy hearts, but our resolve is strengthened by resilience and united by an unwavering commitment to fairness, equity, and public health justice,” he said.
The coalition says over 70,000 unposted nurses and midwives from the 2021 to 2024 classes are still out of work, with another 15,000 graduates set to join the backlog in 2025.
It noted that more than 18,000 members of the 2021 batch alone await posting, with many battling money troubles and anxiety after years of waiting.
The group blasted the Ministry of Health’s latest hiring round as selective, piecemeal, and opaque.
Members said that while roughly 6,500 slots were declared nationwide, only about 6,200 applicants finished the process, leaving nearly 11,500 qualified 2021 graduates without jobs.
“Thousands of desperate applicants encountered responses such as ‘No slot available’ and ‘Your cadre not found,’ while slots vanished inexplicably,” Mr Boateng alleged.
The coalition also accused government of sidelining trained nurses while still enrolling new students in nursing schools.
“The government is treating nursing education as a mere revenue-generating scheme while thousands of fully trained and licensed graduates remain at home in forced idleness,” the coalition leader stressed.
It said the impasse has sparked deep mental, emotional, and financial pain for affected nurses and midwives countrywide.
The coalition raised alarms over worsening staff gaps in hospitals as seasoned health workers leave for abroad. It questioned why government keeps signing deals to send nurses to places like
The Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda when local graduates sit idle. The group tied the staff shortfall to rising pressure in hospitals, citing recent worries at Kasoa Mother and Child Hospital.
“Forcing a lone midwife to manage dozens of active labour cases is an open invitation to fatal complications,” the group warned.
Among its calls, the Coalition of Unposted Nurses and Midwives wants the current selective interviews halted at once and a return to the old model where full graduating batches were hired together.
The coalition also urged chiefs, faith groups, civil society, and the public to back its push for fairness and health sector reforms. “We are ready to work, our hospitals are in desperate need of our hands, and we will continue to utilise every lawful and constitutional means available to secure the justice and fair play we deserve,” the group concluded.
