Health facilities serving rural communities in the Upper East and North East regions continue to face severe staffing challenges as many medical professionals decline postings to the areas, according to the National President of the Ghana Physician Assistants Association, Peter Akudugu Ayamba.
Speaking on A1 Radio, Mr. Ayamba, who also oversees several Catholic health facilities in the two regions, said access to healthcare remains under pressure because critical health personnel are unwilling to accept appointments to remote communities where their services are most needed.
According to him, the absence of medical doctors limits the ability of health facilities to provide quality care and support lower-level health workers who often shoulder the burden of service delivery in rural communities.
“Our most challenging situation is the fact that we are unable to get the requisite staff at the right places also at the right time. I think that has been the major challenge. Certain cadres of professionals will not accept postings to where I sit, but the immediate task has to do with the medical doctors that were posted. In my sector at public health, there are two postings; none of them have reported.”
Mr. Ayamba noted that the challenge extends beyond recruitment to staff retention, particularly in communities facing security concerns linked to the spillover effects of instability in neighbouring countries. He said some health workers have requested transfers after expressing fears for their safety, leaving health administrators with little choice but to reassign them.
He explained that directors of health facilities have limited capacity to guarantee the security of staff and that concerns about safety make it increasingly difficult to persuade professionals to accept postings to affected areas.
“The security situation here too is not helping us because if you are trying to convince staff to come and you get stuck, me as a director, I don’t have the capacity to guarantee somebody’s security. So that is a major challenge. Currently some of our staffs that are in some other places. You have to relocate them because once they come to the office and say ‘no, my life is not the safe’, you don’t have the capacity to guarantee that so you have to move.”
The situation has also affected efforts to upgrade some health facilities. Mr. Ayamba cited a health centre in the North East Region that serves patient numbers comparable to a district hospital but has been unable to attain hospital status, partly because of difficulties attracting a resident doctor.
He expressed hope that improved security and stability across the regions would encourage more health professionals to accept postings and help bridge the healthcare access gap in rural communities.
A1 Radio | 101.1 MHz | Gifty Eyram Kudiabor | Bolgatanga
