Ghana's government has
scrapped a controversial ban on newly qualified nurses traveling to
find more lucrative employment abroad.
They introduced it 10 years ago when the West African country
was suffering from a shortfall of nurses as many headed off for better
opportunities in the West.
It began a scheme funding the education of nurses who then had to agree to work for the next five years in Ghana.
But now the government says it has enough nurses and it is no longer useful to keep them under bond.
"There are now more private schools churning out nurses and
some of them can't even find jobs," Dr Kwesi Abir, the health ministry's
deputy director of human resources, told the BBC.
"There is no point to continue to pay the tuition of nurses and also
give allowances when hundreds are paying their own fees in private
schools," he said.
The policy reversal is unlikely to lead to an immediate
exodus of nurses because although the bond scheme stopped taking new
entrants last year, it takes four years to qualify as a nurse and those
already in the scheme will have to finish their five-year service.
If a nurse wants to jump the bond there is penalty of $650
(£422) to pay for each uncompleted year, something very few can afford
to do.
And the authorities will not issue certificates that will enable them to work abroad unless the fine is paid.
- Professional nurses: 20,400
- Salary: $400 a month
- Nurses who left in 2004: 700
- Nurses who left in 2013: 107
- Nurses who left in 2014: 192
Student nurse Collins Aboagye says he is in that position -
even though he would love to work in the UK after qualifying, he will
not be able to.
"I think the five years is too much… I wish to work outside
because outside, there are certain things their way of delivering care
is a bit different from ours here."
Ill-equipped hospitals
This is a sentiment - a desire for job
satisfaction - that is echoed at the country's premiere hospital, the
Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in the capital, Accra.
Nurses can be seen under pressure as they attend to patients
in the maternity ward - a large hall with about 100 benches filled with
women awaiting for antenatal services.
Some of them are impatient, demanding to be seen more quickly.
One of the major difficulties in providing good healthcare is
not just the number of healthcare professionals but the fact that
hospitals are ill equipped, nurses told the BBC.
They say there are insufficient protective plastic gloves,
not enough hospital beds for patients, a lack of water and chemicals,
frequent power outages - their list is endless.
However, salaries are likely to still be a driving factor for nurses to go abroad given Ghana's rising cost of living.
According to the UK's National Health Service, a newly qualified nurse starts on a salary of more than £21,000 a year - with opportunities to earn overtime - that is, at least $2,695 a month.
A professional nurse in Ghana earns about $400 a month after
tax - and nurses often face the frustration of delays in the payment
of their salaries.
Temptations
Salma Razak, a nurse at Korle Bu who just finished serving her bond, is free now to work abroad, but she remains undecided.
She says although the government has improved some things for nurses, much more could be done.
"From the beginning, you can start by paying us hourly, not monthly - in that way salaries will be much more," she told the BBC.
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