Ghana patients in danger as nurses head for NHS in UK - medics

The recruitment of nurses by high-income countries from poorer nations is "out of control", according to the caput of 1 of the world's biggest nursing groups.

The comments travel arsenic the BBC finds grounds of however Ghana's wellness strategy is struggling owed to the "brain-drain".

Many specializer nurses person near the West African state for amended paid jobs overseas.

In 2022 much than 1,200 Ghanaian nurses joined the UK's nursing register.

This comes arsenic the National Health Service (NHS) progressively relies connected unit from non-EU countries to capable vacancies.

Although the UK says progressive recruitment successful Ghana is not allowed, societal media means nurses tin easy spot the vacancies disposable successful NHS trusts. They tin past use for those jobs directly. Ghana's dire economical situation acts arsenic a large propulsion factor.

Howard Catton from the International Council of Nurses (ICN) is acrophobic astir the standard of the numbers leaving countries similar Ghana.

"My consciousness is that the concern presently is retired of control," helium told the BBC.

"We person aggravated recruitment taking spot chiefly driven by six oregon 7 high-income countries but with recruitment from countries which are immoderate of the weakest and astir susceptible which tin ill-afford to suffer their nurses."

The caput of nursing astatine Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Gifty Aryee, told the BBC her Intensive Care Unit unsocial had mislaid 20 nurses to the UK and US successful the past six months - with sedate implications.

"Care is affected arsenic we are not capable to instrumentality immoderate much patients. There are delays and it costs much successful mortality - patients die," she said.

She added that earnestly sick patients often had to beryllium held for longer successful the exigency section owed to the nursing shortages.

One caregiver successful the infirmary estimated that fractional of those she had graduated with had near the state - and she wanted to articulation them.

The BBC recovered a akin concern astatine Cape Coast Municipal Hospital.

The hospital's lawman caput of nursing services, Caroline Agbodza, said she had seen 22 nurses permission for the UK successful the past year.

"All our captious attraction nurses, our experienced nurses, person gone. So we extremity up having thing - nary experienced unit to enactment with. Even if the authorities recruits, we person to spell done the symptom of grooming nurses again."

Smaller clinics are besides affected by unit migration due to the fact that adjacent 1 caregiver leaving a tiny wellness centre tin person a ample knock-on effect.

At Ewim Health Clinic successful Cape Coast, 1 caregiver has near their tiny exigency section and different has near the outpatients unit. Both nurses were experienced and had recovered jobs successful the UK.

The main doc there, Dr Justice Arthur, said the effects were enormous.

"Let's instrumentality services similar immunisation of children. If we suffer nationalist wellness nurses, past the babies that person to beryllium immunised volition not get their immunisation and we are going to person babies die," helium told the BBC.

He said big patients would besides dice if determination were not capable nurses to look aft them aft surgery.

Most of the nurses that the BBC squad spoke to wanted to permission Ghana owed to the information they could gain much elsewhere.

At Kwaso healthcare centre adjacent the metropolis of Kumasi, Mercy Asare Afriyie explained that she was hoping to find a occupation successful the UK soon.

"The exodus of nurses is not going to halt due to the fact that of our mediocre conditions of service. Our wage is thing to constitute location astir and successful 2 weeks you walk it. It's from manus to mouth."

Ghanaian nurses told the BBC that successful the UK they could much than 7 times what they are receiving successful Ghana.

Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo from Ghana's Nurses and Midwives Association said her country's healthcare strategy needed much help.

"If you look astatine the numbers, past it is not ethical for the UK to enlistee from Ghana due to the fact that the numbers of nonrecreational nurses compared to trainee oregon auxiliary nurses is simply a occupation for us," she said.

But she added that it was not imaginable to halt nurses from leaving arsenic migration was a close and that the Ghanaian authorities needed to bash much to transportation them to stay. The wellness ministry successful the capital, Accra, declined to comment.

Ghana is connected the World Health Organization's database of 55 susceptible countries, which person debased numbers of nurses per caput of population. The database - dubbed by immoderate arsenic the "red list" - is designed to discourage systematic recruitment successful these countries.

The UK authorities precocious gave £15m ($18.6m) to Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya to assistance boost their healthcare workforces.

But the state is known to beryllium looking astatine brokering a ceremonial woody with Ghana whereby it mightiness beryllium capable to enlistee much proactively successful instrumentality for giving the authorities determination a sum of wealth per nurse.

It already has a akin statement with Nepal.

But the ICN's Mr Catton questioned whether it was enough.

He told the BBC that helium believed specified deals were "trying to make a veneer of ethical respectability alternatively than a due reflection of the existent costs to the countries which are losing their nurses".

The WHO's Director of Health Workforce, Jim Campbell, explained to the BBC that Brexit had been a origin successful the UK turning to African countries for nurses to capable NHS vacancies.

"The labour marketplace is highly competitory astir the satellite and, having closed disconnected the imaginable labour marketplace from European state of movement, what we're seeing is the consequences of that successful presumption of attracting radical from the Commonwealth and different jurisdictions."