The Minister in charge of health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has disclosed that the government cannot implement the 2024 approved Conditions of Service of nurses and midwives this year because it was not captured in the 2025 budget.
He has therefore appealed to the striking nurses and midwives to call off their strike action and return to the table for a roadmap to address the matter.
He also admonished them to volunteer their services to facilities to help attend to patients.
In a joint press conference with the Ministry of Finance, at the Jubilee House on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, he described the concerns raised by the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) as genuine but stressed that their concerns cannot be addressed this fiscal year.
“Government wishes to stress its readiness to further engage with the view of implementing the conditions of service in a manner that does not dislocate the national economy,” he said.
Mr. Akandoh said the conditions of service under discussion were not factored into the 2025 national budget, and implementing them in their current form would “completely throw the economy off gear.”“We are mindful of the economic consequences of unbudgeted expenditure and want to avoid the economic slippages that led to instability in the recent past,” he stated.On his part, the Deputy Finance Minister affirmed what the Health Minister said and appealed to the GRNMA leadership to call off the strike.”Our nurses are very, very critical to healthcare delivery, and we appreciate what they do,” he stated.
He claimed that the CSO being demanded by the nurses poses a significant threat to the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts.”We have all committed that in our resolve to reset the economy of this country, we must maintain a 1.5% primary balance surplus every year in order to bring our debt levels to sustainable levels,” he highlighted.”We want to appeal to our revered nurses that we are willing to negotiate to settle with them and the Ministry of Health to agree on a road map that will help us incorporate what can be accommodated in the budget for next year.”
By: Rainboweradioonline.com/Ghana
