The Ministry of Health has issued a final notice to health professionals who recently applied for postings to various districts, extending the deadline for reporting to their assigned duty stations to August 31, 2026, while warning that no further extensions will be granted beyond this date.
The Ministry said the extension is intended to give affected professionals one last opportunity to complete their posting formalities, even as it moved to clarify what it called misleading information currently circulating about the recruitment, posting and salary payment processes governing the exercise.
According to the Ministry, a significant number of professionals who applied for postings have already gone through interviews and screening, duly reported to their assigned facilities, and begun the mechanisation process that leads to salary payment, with some having already started receiving their salaries. This, officials said, demonstrates that the system is functioning as intended for those who have followed the proper procedure.
It is against this backdrop that the Ministry moved to set the record straight on how the process actually works, stating plainly that payment can only follow a defined sequence of steps rather than mere application or posting.
The Established Recruitment-To-Payment Pathway
Laying out the process in full, the Ministry explained that it begins with Financial Clearance secured from the Ministry of Finance, after which the recruitment portal is opened to eligible applicants.
From there, professionals apply for postings to their preferred districts and undergo interviews within those districts, with successful applicants subsequently accepting their assigned postings.
Once posted, the receiving facility is required to confirm the applicant’s assumption of duty and forward the necessary documentation to the Ghana Health Service (GHS). The Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), or other relevant agencies, depending on the applicant’s placement.
An appointment letter is then generated by the appropriate agency, enabling the professional to complete the requirements for salary input. Only after this input process is finalised, and the worker’s salary validated by the facility, does the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) proceed to make payment.
“Every recruited professional is required to go through these processes before salary payment can be effected, to ensure the right people are paid and to avoid payment for work not done or the creation of ghost names,”
Ministry of Health
Directors Told to Expedite Processing For Those Already On Duty
With the procedural framework clarified, the Ministry turned its attention to those already at post, directing all Human Resource Directors and relevant officers across the health sector to expedite the necessary processes for professionals who have reported for duty but are yet to be captured for salary payment.
Officials said prompt action on this front is essential to ensure that professionals who have honoured their postings are not left waiting unnecessarily for their remuneration to begin.
To this end, the Ministry has instructed Directors and Managers to make full use of the September data entry window to mechanise all professionals who have assumed duty, effectively setting a clear administrative timeline for regularising the status of those already serving at their assigned facilities.
The Ministry was firm on the consequences awaiting professionals who fail to meet the extended deadline. It stated that any professional who fails to report by August 31 without an approved and justifiable reason will have their name removed from the recruitment and posting system altogether. Such vacancies, officials said, will then be filled through a mop-up exercise scheduled for the first week of September.
“We urge all affected professionals to take advantage of this final extension and report to their assigned facilities within the stipulated period,”
Ministry of Health
Firm Line Amid Public Scrutiny
The Ministry’s detailed clarification of its internal processes comes at a time of heightened public interest in how newly recruited health professionals are posted and paid, particularly amid persistent public concern over delayed postings and salary bottlenecks in the health sector.
By publishing the step-by-step pathway from financial clearance to salary payment, officials appear keen to pre-empt further confusion and demonstrate that the system, while procedurally rigorous, is designed to function transparently for those who comply with it.
As the August 31 deadline approaches, attention will now turn to how many of the remaining unposted professionals heed the Ministry’s final call, and how efficiently Human Resource Directors move to process those already serving before the September mop-up exercise gets underway.
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