Spokesperson for a group that called itself, Coalition of Unemployed Nurses and Midwives Association, Masawudu Adams has lauded the Ministry of Health of issuing clearance for the recruitment and posting of members.

The Coalition had registered its displeasure about the undue delay in the posting of its members to the various hospitals.

“It is totally unacceptable when we have over 2,000 qualified health professionals sitting at home while the nurse to patient ratio in the country is 1:22 as compared to the WHO standard of 1:3," the group said when they recently picketed at the Flagstaff House to mount pressure on government to get them posted.

The Ministry of Health some weeks ago began posting to various health facilities to begin work.

Speaking to Nyankonton Mu Nsem, Masawudu Adams said the group can no longer be referred to as Coalition of Unemployed Nurses since they are now working.

He said, they are extremely happy that the ministry has 'walked the talk' to get them posted. "We are no longer Coalition of Unemployed Nurses because government has issued clearance for over 4, 799 to various health facilities nationwide. We are happy to be working. Very soon we will come up with a new name for the group. We will maintain the group but will come up with a different name and announce it to the media soon."

The Coalition was a group of qualified but unemployed Registered General Nurses, Psychiatric Nurses, Midwives and Community Health Nurses who had completed their various training programmes and licensed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana in March 2014 to practice in the country under a bond of at least five years after a mandatory National Service.

Meanwhile, government has since August 2015 till date, recruited and posted Four thousand, seven hundred and ninety-nine (4,799) Nurses, Psychiatry nurses, enrolled nurses, Community Nurses and Midwives to various health facilities in Ghana.

"Government of Ghana will no longer bond nurses trained in public health training facilities from 2017. From the 2017/2018 academic year, new-entrant nursing trainees in government funded Health Training Institutions will no longer be required to serve a bond after completion,'' a statement from the Ministry said.

This would mean that nurses who graduate from the government institutions would have seek for jobs by themselves, unlike the conventional practice where they were automatically absorbed into the public healthcare system.