Omanghana
The Minister for Health has cautioned regional, municipal and district directors of health services, as well as heads of health facilities, against changing the approved postings of newly recruited or transferred healthcare professionals.
The warning follows growing concerns about unauthorized alterations to staff deployment lists. The Ministry described the practice as a serious violation of public service procedures that undermines efforts to distribute healthcare workers fairly across the country.
In an advisory issued to health directorates nationwide, the Ministry stressed that postings approved in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service Council and relevant regulatory agencies must be respected.
Health directors and facility managers have consequently been prohibited from swapping, reassigning or reposting personnel without written authorization from the Ministry of Health headquarters.
According to the Ministry, deployment schedules are designed to address critical staffing shortages, particularly in rural, deprived and hard-to-reach communities. Diverting workers from these locations to urban and peri-urban facilities could deprive vulnerable communities of essential medical services.
Human resource directorates across Ghana’s 16 regions are also expected to undergo unannounced compliance inspections. The audits will determine whether deployed workers have reported to and are physically working at their assigned duty stations.
The Minister warned that officials found facilitating irregular transfers, accepting unauthorized replacement requests or refusing to receive posted personnel would face disciplinary action under the applicable Civil and Public Service regulations.
Possible sanctions include formal administrative queries, reprimands, suspension or removal from leadership positions. Institutional administrative allocations could also be withheld in serious cases of non-compliance.
Newly deployed medical officers, nurses, midwives, pharmacists and allied health professionals were also cautioned against lobbying administrators or attempting to influence their placements.
The Ministry said personnel who report to unauthorized facilities risk losing payroll clearance, validation and biometric enrollment. All newly posted workers have therefore been directed to report immediately to the duty stations indicated in their appointment letters.
Source: Omanghana
