
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons (GCPS) and the C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS) to promote professional development and improve healthcare delivery in the country.
The agreement establishes a structured pathway for clinical professionals within the GHS to assume academic roles, such as clinical lecturers and professors, while continuing to serve within the health system.
The initiative aims to bridge the gap between academia and frontline healthcare delivery, ensuring that expertise is shared without losing skilled professionals to full-time teaching roles.
At a brief ceremony to sign the MoU in Accra yesterday, Director-General of the GHS, Professor Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, described the partnership as a transformative step towards strengthening health systems in Ghana.
He called for a shift from rhetoric to action, urging stakeholders to take deliberate steps to build a robust healthcare and training system that met the needs of the population.
“Our healthcare development must be intentional. Every Ghanaian is a potential patient, so strengthening the health sector is a collective responsibility,” Prof. Akoriyea said.
He noted that under the traditional structure, medical doctors within the GHS rise through the ranks to become specialists and eventually consultants.
However, unlike their counterparts in academia who can attain the ranks of associate or full professors, many service professionals lack similar opportunities for career advancement in academic roles.
“This collaboration provides the space for recognition, motivation, and improved service delivery,” he said.
“It’s not always about money. Take a consultant to my village in Lawra and pay him GH¢3,000, it may not mean much. But give him the title of lecturer or associate professor, and he’ll be proud to stay and share his knowledge,” he added.
Prof. Akoriyea added that teaching enhances clinical practice, as it compels professionals to stay current with emerging research and global trends, saying; “those who teach have to read, learn, and stay updated. That directly benefits the patient, because new knowledge gets to the bedside.”
On his part, the Vice-Chancellor of CKT-UTAS, Professor Albert Luguterah, welcomed the partnership and called for a more coordinated approach to training healthcare professionals in Ghana.
He criticised the ongoing trend of universities establishing their own teaching hospitals, despite the presence of functional GHS facilities.
“We are wasting scarce national resources by duplicating infrastructure. Every university wants to build a teaching hospital when the GHS already has working hospitals.
Instead of duplicating, we should be strengthening and collaborating with existing structures to improve training and service delivery,” he said.
Prof. Luguterah also warned against the over-academicisation of the health profession, cautioning that it could strip the field of experienced clinicians if not carefully managed.
“We cannot afford to have our best doctors abandon hospitals for classrooms. If we want better healthcare, we must keep our most skilled professionals directly involved in patient care,” he emphasised.
As part of the MoU, selected GHS professionals will be supported to take on academic roles in collaboration with GCPS and CKT-UTAS, without leaving the service—an initiative expected to elevate standards of care and enrich the training of future health professionals.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH