Korle Bu CEO Raises Alarm Over Doctor and Nurse Exodus from Ghana

The CEO of Ghana's premier referral hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Opoku Ampomah, has raised concerns about the increasing number of doctors and nurses leaving the country.

He stated that urgent measures are needed to address this issue, which is taking a toll on the hospital.

Speaking on Joy News' PM Express on Wednesday, Dr Ampomah said, "Doctors and nurses are too eager to leave, and they are leaving.

"There are push and pull factors, so once you have a situation where better conditions are being offered elsewhere, people move to those places because they feel they can make more financially."

Describing the current situation at the hospital, he noted, "We've had several doctors leaving, and so far, the numbers that have left are concerning.

" It's the trend that we are concerned about because, at the moment, we still have reasonable numbers of staff to work with. But I think we need to do something soon to stem the tide."

He further explained that the impact is not just about the absolute numbers leaving but who is leaving.

"If you look at it just on the total number of nurses, probably you may see that the difference may not be that much. But if you look qualitatively at who is leaving—because if you have an ICU nurse with 15 years plus experience when they leave, it's like you have a whole institution gone."

Dr. Ampomah stated that the country is losing such experienced health professionals to the West and local private facilities.

The recruitment of nurses by high-income countries from poorer nations is "out of control," according to the head of one of the world's biggest nursing groups.

In 2022, over 1,200 Ghanaian nurses joined the UK's nursing register, as the National Health Service (NHS) increasingly relies on staff from non-EU countries to fill vacancies, according to a BBC report.

Although the UK claims active recruitment in Ghana is not allowed, social media makes it easy for nurses to see available vacancies in NHS trusts and apply directly. Ghana's dire economic situation also acts as a major push factor.

The latest Ghana Human Development Report highlights a concerning trend: a significant number of healthcare professionals are leaving Ghana due to poor working conditions.

Titled "The Future Value of Work in Ghana," the report, a collaboration between the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Statistical Service, and National Development Planning Commission, reveals that 24% of locally trained nurses and 50% of doctors have moved abroad.

The report warns that this exodus poses a serious threat to Ghana’s healthcare system, potentially leading to its collapse if immediate action isn’t taken.

Dr. Ampomah explained that Korle Bu is taking steps to retain its staff.

"For us in Korle Bu, we realized that one of the reasons why our nurses were disaffected was that when they got the rank of principal nursing officer, their progression to the higher grades was constrained.

"Last year, for instance, we created about 110 new deputy chief nursing officer positions, so that allows those who have been marking time at the principal nurse officer level to advance their careers," he stated.

He added that the hospital recently decided to expand the chief nursing officer grade, increasing the number of positions available.

"If you look at the size of Korle Bu, for instance, let's say the size of the surgical block is a size of about, let's say, the whole teaching hospital in terms of bed capacity. So, the whole teaching hospital also has several maybe chief nursing officers there, but we would just have one.

"It means that those who have many years of experience, they cannot move up there because of that bottleneck. We looked at it and considered the fact that, if we are to equate it's like for like, that means that our nurses are being short-changed, and that was one of the reasons why people were getting disaffected."

He said that as a result, even if nurses are not leaving the country, they may want to transfer to another facility where there are better prospects for career advancement.

The hospital, he noted, has worked to correct this anomaly.