The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu has debunked claims by sections of the public and especially the Minority in Parliament that the re-introduction of the quota system at the various Nursing Training colleges was as a result the re-introduction of the Nurses Training allowance.
At a Press Conference in the Central Regional Capital, Cape Coast, the Minister indicated that the re-introduction of the of the quota system is aimed at “resolving the equity imbalance” within the system.
He said“About the seemingly different interpretations and twists individuals and some groups are giving to the announcement the Ministry wishes to bring to the attention of the public the rationale behind this human resources planning the aim of which is to leverage admissions into the various health training institutions and resolving the equity imbalance. Neither the reintroduction of nurses’ allowances nor the picketing at the ministry’s premises by non-posted nurses informed the basis for the quota given to the health training institutions”.
“As it is with all institutions, there comes a time that an HR plan is done to know the actual staff strength, the required staff mix and other considerations so that going forward there would not be any vacuum created…within the institution. That is to say, HR planning and analysis are norming practices the world over,” he said indicating that it was part of the Ministry’s move to streamline issues with regards to its human resources.
He indicated that the Ministry reached the decision to re-introduce the quota system after a consultative meeting with all stakeholders in the sector.
“As a ministry we have over the years been taking these exercises though not in such a robust and scientifically based manner as it is done this year. It is in continuing with the same trend that the issue of the quota has been implemented and unfortunately seems to be new to many and raises some concerns among the populace. The Ministry of Health in coming out with the 2017 quota collaborated with the Nursing and Midwifery council including major stakeholders in arriving at the decision.”
source:a1radioonline.com
