He said this year the government did not recruit even a single nurse because of constraints and budgetary concerns, adding, it was working to ensure that financial clearance was given for such number of nurses to be recruited in February, next year.

 Mr Agyeman-Manu made the announcement during the opening of the 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Conference of Heads of Health Training Institutions (COHHETI) in Tamale on Monday.

The week-long AGM affords members of COHHETI to amongst others, discuss issues of the health sector such as achieving universal health coverage, pre-service training: the critical success factor to improving the quality of care.

It is on the theme: “Contemporary Health Care Delivery: The Role of Health Training Institutions and other Stakeholders”.  Mr Agyeman-Manu, therefore, urged unemployed nurses to be patient as government put in place measures to employ them.

 The Minister was also hopeful that by the end of this year, about 20,000 nurses would be recruited under the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) to augment the staff strength of the various hospital facilities across the country.

 He advised nurses to register for NABCO recruitment as it was an important government intervention, whose remuneration was even better than what some public sector workers received, adding, working under NABCO would ensure that they did not forget what they learnt in school.

He said nurses working under NABCO would be absorbed under the health sector as permanent staff when the opportunity was available. Mr Agyeman-Manu reiterating the need for health training institutions to teach students an additional international language such that trained nurses could easily seek employment in other countries.

He also urged health training institutions to incorporate customer care training in their curriculum to imbibe in nurses some discipline to attend to clients in a satisfactory manner.

 Madam Monica Nkrumah, President of COHHETI, appealed to the government to release the second batch of financial clearance such that the 400 temporary workers at the health training institutions would be absorbed under the payroll to relieve the training institutions of added financial burden.

 Madam Nkrumah appealed to all to support health training institutions with the needed teaching and learning materials and current text books to enhance the training of effective and efficient nurses and midwives for quality health care delivery.

Mr Salifu Saaed, Northern Regional Minister, commended the Principals and Heads of Health Training Institutions for their immense contributions to the health sector to ensure quality health care delivery.

Sagnari Naa Yakubu Abdulai, Paramount Chief of Sagnarigu Traditional Area, who chaired the event, appealed to the government to adequately resource hospitals to provide quality health care to all, such that people did not have to travel abroad for medical treatment.