Thousands of unemployed health professionals across the country are expressing frustration over the Ministry of Health’s ongoing recruitment exercise, with many applicants saying they are unable to secure placement slots despite repeated attempts to access the online portal.
Last week, the Ministry announced the activation of its recruitment platform and invited qualified health workers to apply for placement nationwide. The exercise immediately attracted massive interest, largely due to the growing backlog of more than 100,000 trained but unemployed professionals waiting to enter the health sector.
But since the portal opened on May 4, many applicants have complained that the system either fails to load, denies them access entirely, or informs them that there are “no slots” available moments after logging in.
Several affected applicants who spoke to Graphic Online said they joined the portal at exactly 10 a.m., the official opening time each day, yet still encountered difficulties accessing the platform or completing their applications.
Others who managed to log in after multiple attempts said the portal displayed their personal information and profile photographs correctly, but blocked them from proceeding because no regional slots were available.
Graphic Online independently verified some of the complaints after testing the recruitment site, [ https://mohrecruitment.com/login
]. In some instances, users struggled to access the platform altogether, while others who successfully signed in were still prevented from applying because the system indicated that regional quotas had already been exhausted.
The situation has left many applicants questioning the recruitment process, especially those who say previous exercises allowed qualified personnel to apply without such intense competition or technical barriers.
The Ministry scheduled the recruitment process according to regions over a two-week period. Applicants from Upper East and Upper West regions were assigned May 4 and 5, followed by Savannah and North East on May 6 and 7. Oti and Bono East were scheduled for May 8 and 9, Western North and Ahafo for May 10 and 11, Volta and Northern for May 12, Central and Western for May 13, Bono and Ashanti for May 14, while Greater Accra and Eastern regions concluded the exercise on May 15.
Despite the staggered arrangement, many applicants said they consistently met the same “no slot” notification each day after enduring long login attempts.
In a statement dated Thursday, May 14, 2026, the Ministry of Health acknowledged the concerns surrounding the recruitment exercise and explained that the latest intake followed years of limited hiring across several professional categories.
According to the Ministry, the last major recruitment exercises took place in 2020 for nurses, 2019 for pharmacists and allied health professionals, and 2018 for physician assistants. It said the prolonged gaps in recruitment contributed significantly to the growing number of unemployed health workers nationwide.
The Ministry explained that current financial clearance only permits the recruitment of about 8,000 health professionals and support staff across all categories.
“The Ministry remains committed to creating recruitment opportunities for all categories of health professionals, as demonstrated in the current process. Quality healthcare delivery depends on effective teamwork across all professional cadres,” the statement read.
It added that the ongoing recruitment exercise was designed to support the government’s Free Primary Healthcare Policy, particularly efforts aimed at strengthening preventive and community-based healthcare delivery in underserved communities.
Under the current allocations, nurses and midwives received the largest share of available positions, totaling 6,500 slots. Priority was given to Nurse Assistant Preventive officers, Community Health Nurses and Public Health Nurses to support home visits and community healthcare services.
The Ministry further disclosed that 900 positions were reserved for allied health professionals, with Laboratory Technicians and Health Information Officers receiving greater consideration to strengthen healthcare delivery from CHPS compounds to polyclinics.
Pharmacy professionals and pharmacy technicians were allocated 250 positions, while 300 slots were assigned to physician assistants, especially those recruited in 2024 but still awaiting payroll mechanisation.
On regional distribution, the Ministry said allocations were determined using staffing norms and annual human resource requirements submitted by the Ghana Health Service, CHAG, Ahmadiyya Health Services and the Mental Health Authority.
It also explained that a Recruitment Committee made up of Human Resource Directors from various agencies guided the process, with regions facing more severe staffing shortages receiving higher allocations.
The Ministry said the newly introduced recruitment portal was intended to improve transparency and support direct district-level recruitment, adding that feedback from applicants would be used to improve the system.
Looking ahead, the Ministry acknowledged the need for additional health workers across the country and said discussions with the Ministry of Finance would continue in an effort to secure further financial clearance for future recruitment exercises.
It assured applicants that the portal would be reopened once additional approval for recruitment is granted.
