GHS designs incentives packages for health workers in deprived communities

Dr Kofi Amo-Kodieh, the Bono Regional Directorate of Health says the Ghana Health Service (GHS) is working out modalities to increase between 10 and 30 percent basic salaries of health workers who accepted posting to serve in deprived communities in the country.

He said other additional incentive packages, including fast promotions, enhanced study leaves and allowances were in the offing and called on health workers to be prepared to work in rural communities.

Dr Amo-Kodieh said this when addressing the opening session of the 2024 mid-year performance review of the directorate in Sunyani on the theme “Bono Regional progress on networks of practice implementation”.

The Regional Director expressed worry that the services of the GHS were well needed most in rural areas in the country, however, health workers posted to serve in those communities were always reluctant to serve without apparent reasons.

Describing it as unfortunate and unacceptable, Dr Amo-Kodieh said the situation was seriously slowing down health outcomes and impeding the nation’s efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

In the Bono Region, he said health workers who would be posted to serve in the Banda, Jaman North, Tain and Dormaa West Districts as well as the Jaman South Municipality would benefit from the incentive packages which would be implemented soon.

Dr Amo-Kodieh expressed concern about increasing and disturbing cases of non-communicable diseases in the region and advised the health workers to have ample time to educate people about good eating habits and regular exercises to stem the trend.

He emphasised that access to quality health services and financial access remained the pillars of achieving set goals for the GHS’s Network of Practice (NoP), and the UHC, saying the directorate was putting up resources together to come out with the required quality of health services needed for the region.

Dr Amo-Kodieh said some strides had been made in the implementation of NoP in the region, however inadequate critical staff, and posting staff to places where their services were well needed remained daunting challenges.

Mr George Asare-Tabi, the Bono Regional Health Information Officer, said the region had 63 health centers and 306 functional Community-based Health Planning Service (CHPS) compounds and a teaching hospital and other health facilities and district hospitals and 17 vehicles.

He said the directorate had achieved some successes in the half year, saying the family planning acceptor rate exceeded the 20percent target, recording 21.9 percent.

Antenatal clinic attendance, OPD per capita, still birth rate, as well as proportions of newborns put on breast feeding after 30 minutes of birth all improved within the period.

However, Mr Asare-Tabi said the directorate recorded low performance in skill delivery, while anaemia among pregnant women as well as neonatal mortality remained high in some of the Districts and Municipalities in the region.
GNA