The Invisibility of African Medical Orderlies in Ghana (Gold Coast), 1920–1950s

This article constructs the silences of one type of African medical auxiliary called orderlies in historical narratives and their contribution to healthcare in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) from 1920 to the 1950s. Though often referred to as ancillary, hardly trained, and unskilled, orderlies deserve attention. British medical officers regularly relied on the labour of orderlies to fill in when formally trained staff like doctors, dispensers, nurses, and midwives were in short supply. Often described as informal, orderlies were not permitted to perform tasks tied to medicine, but their role allowed them to build skills to perform medically related tasks. In this article, I suggest that these orderlies built the foundation for training local health labour in caring for the sick. I argue that the work of orderlies became an entry level post where individuals could pursue training into the more formalised professions like nursing and midwifery.