By Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu
Bolgatanga, July 01, GNA -Dr Braimah Baba Abubakari, the Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has advised Human Resource (HR) practitioners in the region to embrace staff transfers as a vital strategy for improving healthcare delivery while ensuring fairness in personnel administration.
Speaking at the opening of a three-day career counselling and guidance programme for HR practitioners from the region’s 15 municipalities and districts, Dr Abubakari thanked health facilities for releasing staff to participate in the training, describing capacity building as key to strengthening service delivery.
“It is very important for us to build this capacity,” he said.
The Regional Director explained that the recent reshuffling of some HR practitioners and managers was intended to provide fresh challenges and renewed motivation rather than serve as punishment.
“I was told that some of you cannot even remember the number of years you have spent at your current station. It is always good to be challenged with a new environment so that you go there with a fresh sense of purpose,” he said.
Dr Abubakari noted that transfers were a normal feature of the GHS, enabling staff to gain new experiences while enhancing institutional performance.
He also addressed concerns about leadership practices in some districts, revealing that the Regional Directorate had received complaints from both managers and staff, including allegations that some managers were delaying official correspondence.
“If somebody is writing to the Regional Director requesting a transfer, you do not have the right to sit on that letter. You are allowed to read it, write your opinion and forward it. If you sit on the letter, you could be sanctioned because it is not meant for you,” he cautioned.
He stressed that while district managers were expected to provide recommendations on staff requests, the final decision rests with the appropriate authority.
Dr Abubakari further encouraged managers to support staff who genuinely wished to relocate rather than prevent transfers because of workforce shortages.
“Sometimes it is not good to have the body of the staff in your facility while the mind is somewhere else. You cannot get the maximum out of the person under those circumstances,” he observed.
Using a local analogy, he urged managers not to hold on to dissatisfied employees.
“The cure to hunger is not to detain waste in your system,” he remarked, explaining that retaining unmotivated staff was not the solution to staffing challenges.
He urged HR practitioners and health managers to uphold fairness, transparency and the Ghana Health Service’s human resource policies, stressing that effective leadership and sound staff management were essential to improving healthcare delivery across the Upper East Region.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali /Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu
Email: [email protected]