Ten medical officers posted to various health facilities in the Upper East Region in 2021 did not report to work, the Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Emmanuel Kofi Dzotsi, has disclosed.
Describing the situation as worrying and disturbing, Dr Dzotsi noted that the refusal of medical staff to accept postings places undue pressure on other health personnel in health facilities.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2021 Annual Performance Review Session of the Upper East Regional Health Services on Wednesday, Dr Dzotsi noted that the situation may be attributed to the perception that the region was “unattractive.”
“The region is perceived as unattractive to health personnel which had made it very difficult to attract critical staff such as doctors, midwives, professional nurses and Physician Assistance,” he said.
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He noted that the region lacked critical health staff such as specialist doctors, physician assistants, laboratory scientists, obstetricians and gynaecologists.
“It is very worrying to note that of the 10 medical officers posted to the region in 2021, none of them reported to work. There is acute shortage of human resource which is impeding the provision of health care,” he said.
He noted that as at December 31, 2021, the region had a total of nine specialist doctors, 42 general medical officers, two dental medical officers and 721 midwives attending to a population of about 1,318,351 in the region.
Dr Dzotsi, therefore, called on all stakeholders to ensure that attractive incentive packages are put in place to attract and retain doctors and midwives to especially remote communities in the region.