Ghana’s healthcare system has long depended on the resilience of its frontline workforce. Today, however, it stands at a critical crossroads.
Despite the posting of about 700 newly qualified medical doctors to rural and underserved communities, only a few have reported. Many are unwilling to accept rural postings due to long-standing challenges, including limited infrastructure, poor working conditions, and weak incentive structures. According to the Minister of Health, nearly 50 per cent of medical doctors are concentrated in Accra, leaving rural communities to grapple with deepening health inequalities.
At the same time, a troubling paradox persists. More than 3,896 trained, licensed, and job-ready Physician Assistants (PAs) remain unemployed nationwide, even though they were created specifically to bridge this gap.
One must therefore ask: why is Ghana leaving its most readily available health workforce on the bench when the system is already under severe strain?
Physician Assistants: The Backbone of Rural Primary Healthcare
The role of Physician Assistants in Ghana is neither new nor experimental. Introduced in the mid-1960s, PAs were designed to address the shortage and uneven distribution of doctors in rural areas. Since then, the cadre has evolved significantly.
Today, Ghana trains three categories of PAs — Medical, Dental and Anesthesia — through accredited institutions under the Ministry of Health. They are trained using the medical model and are equipped to diagnose and treat patients, prescribe medicines, perform procedures, manage emergencies, lead health facilities and implement public health programmes.
In practice, particularly in rural Ghana, PAs are not merely assistants. They serve as the primary clinicians and often as heads of facilities, making independent medical and administrative decisions in communities where doctors have not been posted for years.
From attending to hundreds of patients daily to stabilising emergencies, conducting minor surgeries, managing deliveries, leading disease surveillance, supervising CHPS compounds, managing supply chains and ensuring revenue accountability, PAs remain the engine room of rural primary healthcare.
Yet, despite this indispensable role, no financial clearance has been issued for the recruitment of Physician Assistants since 2019.
The Rural Struggle: A Public Health Time Bomb
Rural and hard-to-reach communities continue to record higher rates of preventable diseases, maternal deaths, childhood illnesses and delayed emergency care. Posting clinicians to these areas is not just a staffing exercise; it is a public health survival strategy.
Without adequate clinical staff, maternal emergencies become fatal, common infections escalate into life-threatening conditions, non-communicable diseases go undiagnosed, public health surveillance weakens, and community outreach collapses.
Physician Assistants are trained precisely for these roles and have delivered them effectively for decades. Their continued unemployment is not merely an administrative lapse. It represents a misallocation of critical human resources and a disservice to communities that Ghana has pledged to reach under its universal health coverage agenda.
Why Government Must Act Now
Physician Assistants are the most available and deployment-ready members of the health workforce. Nearly 4,000 have completed training, passed licensure examinations, and are ready for posting without additional preparation.
They are also more willing to work in rural settings. Many PAs are trained, experienced and culturally attuned to the realities of rural healthcare delivery.
Their services are cost-effective and high-impact. PAs provide essential care, preventive services and facility leadership at a fraction of the cost of relying solely on doctors.
Most rural sub-districts already depend on PAs for coordination of staff, finances, logistics and administration. Without them, these systems cannot function.
Allowing rural communities to remain understaffed only widens health inequities, undermines national productivity and contradicts Ghana’s commitments to Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 10.
The Way Forward
Ghana cannot resolve its healthcare workforce crisis without fully utilising its most reliable and available cadre. Government must urgently issue financial clearance for the recruitment of unemployed Physician Assistants.
PAs must be integrated into strategic rural workforce planning, with recognition of their proven contribution to primary healthcare delivery. Working conditions in underserved areas must improve, and clear career progression pathways should be strengthened to reflect the role PAs play in national health outcomes.
This is not professional lobbying. It is a matter of public health necessity, equity and sound governance.
Conclusion: Ghana Already Has the Solution
The health of rural communities should not depend on who is willing to show up. A resilient health system deploys those who are trained, capable and ready.
Right now, that workforce exists.
Failing to post nearly 4,000 competent Physician Assistants while preventable deaths persist is not only inefficient. It is unjust.
The government must act — decisively and urgently. Ghana’s rural communities deserve clinicians, and the country already has them.
It is time to post the Physician Assistants now.
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