Some staff members at the Upper East Regional Hospital, a government facility in Ghana, have revealed that the hospital is facing operational struggles and warned of possible shutdown if the situation is not addressed.
The situation, according to the personnel who spoke to Media Without Borders, is due to a shortage of staff and the “needless” cause of the shortage.
Explaining how the hospital ended up in the staffing woes, they said the Ghana Health Service (GHS) introduced a nationwide promotion policy years ago to motivate its staff and reward competence.
They said the promotion exercise, however, had been excluding eligible staff at the regional hospital while benefiting their colleagues stationed outside the Upper East Region’s capital, Bolgatanga.
According to them, several personnel who considered the exclusion as unfair and discriminatory had requested transfers from the regional hospital, succeeded, and left.
“The policy is saying that we, who are working in Bolgatanga Municipality alone, should not be promoted within the four-year promotion period. The policy is being implemented in the region in such a manner that many people who deserve promotion are being left out.
“We feel demotivated and discriminated against. Most of our staff members, especially the nurses, have taken transfers to other areas for that reason. We are just a few staff members left at the hospital now. More are prepared to leave by January, next year,” said one of the hospital’s personnel.
They said the exclusion from the promotion policy was not limited to them because health workers at other facilities in Bolgatanga were facing the same issue.
“Currently, the colleagues, who some of us are supposed to be promoted with, have gone for their interviews and are waiting for their promotion letters.
“But because we are working in Bolgatanga, we are not being promoted, and our juniors are now our seniors. This is unfair treatment,” bemoaned another employee, who was left out of the latest promotion interview.
Fewer hands, more workload: Remaining staff lament impact of understaffing
In the wake of the reported exit of many of their co-workers, the remaining staff members are struggling to cope with the heavy workload, reportedly working non-stop from morning to evening.
“Because the rest of us are few, the pressure is so high. I can tell you that the staff in some of the units can go to work at 8 in the morning and close in the evening, somewhere at 6 o’ clock. Some report to work in the morning and close the next day.
“There are 15 districts in the Upper East Region. All the 14 districts outside Bolgatanga send their cases to the regional hospital for us to manage. The hospital is suffering now,” stated a worker.
One of the promotion-starved staff said they were told the promotion policy did not include them because Bolgatanga was not a deprived area.
But the aggrieved staff member faulted the alleged logic with venom.
“Almost everybody in the region has been promoted except those who are working in Bolgatanga. They are saying Bongo, Navrongo, Nangodi, Tongo, Zuarungu, and so on are deprived areas, while Bolgatanga is not deprived. We don’t know how they can determine which area is deprived and which is not.
“Most of our staff live in Bolgatanga here and go to Tongo, Zuarungu, Bongo, some go to Navrongo, to work and come back. So, if you think we should not be promoted because we live in town and we have access to some amenities, those who work outside Bolgatanga and are being promoted equally live in Bolgatanga and enjoy those amenities,” probed the worker.
Petition and strike action loom
The Human Resource Manager at the Upper East Regional Health Directorate, Kelvin Fartama Tengekyebe, denied the claims when the author of this report contacted him.
“We just conducted a promotion interview, and we have finished the promotion we conducted. We interviewed staff members who are in Bolgatanga as well.
“The interview we conducted was for all staff in the region. We don’t discriminate. We have interviewed and included the people in Bolgatanga. Nobody is qualified who has been turned away,” he stated.
When contacted again, the staff insisted they were qualified but were excluded from the just-ended promotion exercise.
They further indicated plans to lodge a petition with the Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, to address the situation.
They vowed to stage a sit-down strike if the petition did not yield a positive response.
Director-General speaks
The GHS Director-General, Dr. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, told this writer in a telephone interview that the policy did not state that staff serving in non-deprived areas would not be promoted.
He cited the policy, however, as saying they would not be promoted first.
“There are certain decisions we take here to make sure that people go to the places where they are really needed. And some of these things are just to encourage the people who go to places where nobody wants to go to.
“The guideline is not saying that they will not be promoted. Nobody said that. The policy says that those in hard-to-reach areas will be promoted first. And if there is any opportunity to go to school, they will be considered first. Nothing will change that,” said the Director-General.
He also dismissed claims that promotion disputes among staff had led to understaffing at the regional hospital.
“As I talk to you, I have the list of every little thing about the Upper East Region in front of me. People are struggling to go to Bolgatanga hospital from the villages, not the other way round. I’m talking of all categories of staff.
“I have done my studies, and I know that this is the situation. And I approve of them getting the transfers and all those things. I know how many doctors there are, how many nurses there are, I know every little thing. I know how that place is being expanded,” he affirmed.
Hospital authorities contradict Director-General’s claims
But when the author of this report fact-checked the Director-General’s statement, the hospital authorities indicated that his claims about the hospital were inaccurate.
They stated that the promotion policy was being unfairly implemented, resulting in a staff exodus at the hospital and negatively impacting morale, productivity, and overall service delivery.
“The policy is good. However, it doesn’t make sense for those who crafted the policy or policymakers to say that Bolgatanga is not a deprived area. For that matter, Bolgatanga should not be excluded from promotion, nor should those who work in Bolgatanga be denied promotion at the same time as their counterparts elsewhere.
“There is no difference between Bolgatanga and other parts of the region. The entire region is a deprived area. There is no difference between Bolgatanga and Zuarungu. The way the policy is being executed is affecting the regional hospital. None of us is happy. Nobody is happy. Workers are leaving. Nobody likes it,” said one of the authorities.
This writer further engaged the hospital’s Medical Director, Dr Joseph Kojo Tambil, on the matter at his office on Friday, 12 December 2025.
He said the staff’s promotion grievances had been tabled before the GHS governing council.
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org/Ghana/West Africa
