The Minister of Health, Mr. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has announced that government will begin paying salaries to 6,500 nurses and midwives who have remained unemployed since 2020, starting November 2025.
This follows Cabinet’s approval for the Ministry of Finance to issue financial clearance and migrate the affected health workers onto the national payroll.
The 6,500 nurses and midwives form part of 13,500 practitioners who completed their national service rotation in 2020.
Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Monday, Mr. Akandoh explained that 7,000 of the group have already been employed and placed on the payroll since January 2025, while the remaining 6,500 will be regularised in the coming month.
He further disclosed that 3,000 of those nurses and midwives are owed 10 months of salary arrears, which will be settled in tranches beginning immediately.
“Out of the 10,000 nurses migrated onto the payroll, 3,000 did not have their data fully processed even though they received their ID cards. They have worked for 10 months without pay, and these arrears will now be cleared,” he said.
Mr. Akandoh also announced that 15,755 rotational nurses and midwives, along with 2,154 allied health interns, who have been on rotation for 13 months without allowances, will begin receiving payments from next month.
“We are determined to ensure that all outstanding payments are made. The current batch of rotation nurses and allied health interns will also start receiving their monthly allowances,” he assured.
On the employment of medical professionals, the Minister said 883 junior doctors who were recruited in 2024 have already been migrated onto the payroll. Additionally, financial clearance has been issued for 800 medical doctors who completed their housemanship in 2024 but were yet to be posted.
He added that the Ministry has also secured clearance for 321 pharmacists who completed their house jobs earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Madam Sandra Frimpong, leader of the Unemployed Nurses and Midwives Group (2021–2024), has appealed to the government to fast-track the employment process to address the growing backlog of trained but jobless health professionals.
Currently, more than 70,000 qualified nurses and midwives who completed training over the past four years are still awaiting government postings.
