The proposed Free Primary Healthcare programme could put additional pressure on nurses if the government does not increase recruitment and improve working conditions, the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Volta Regional Branch, has warned.

The Association said making primary healthcare services free would likely attract more patients to health facilities, particularly at the lower levels of the health system, where staffing and resources were already inadequate.

The GRNMA made the call during the launch of its week-long celebration in Ho on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, on the theme, “Our Nurses, Our Future: Empowered Nurses Save Lives.”

Dr Oliver Commey, Director of Infectious Diseases at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, said nurses would play a key role in the implementation of the programme and should therefore be adequately supported.

He said the removal of financial barriers to accessing healthcare would inevitably increase patient numbers at health facilities.

“When we say things are free, people will troop to various facilities. The nurse is already overwhelmed when it is not free. When it is free, they become doubly overwhelmed,” he said.

Dr Commey called for increased recruitment and the provision of essential resources to ensure nurses could cope with the expected increase in workload.

He said the success of the programme depended largely on the availability of healthcare workers to provide the services.

“The care is still there. It is only a healthcare worker that can give that care. So, when we say that the programme should carry the nurses, that is exactly what we mean,” he said.

Mr Courage Kwame-Kumah, Volta Regional Chairman of the GRNMA, said challenges affecting nurses went beyond salaries and included poor working conditions, inadequate equipment and unsuitable work environments.

He said nurses at peripheral facilities were already working under difficult conditions and could face further pressure once Free Primary Healthcare was introduced.

According to him, inadequate accommodation, deteriorating health facilities and inappropriate equipment, including non-adjustable beds, were affecting the welfare and occupational health of nurses and midwives.

Mr Kwame-Kumah also linked the continued migration of nurses to the difficult conditions within the health sector, saying many practitioners were increasingly looking abroad for better working environments.

“Basically, your first instinct is to leave this country,” he said.

He urged government and other stakeholders to take practical steps to improve conditions of service, provide the necessary equipment and ensure decent accommodation for health workers.

He said addressing the challenges would help retain nurses and midwives in the country and strengthen healthcare delivery.

The week-long GRNMA celebration is aimed at recognising the contribution of nurses and midwives while highlighting issues affecting their welfare and the delivery of quality healthcare.