In March 2026, we onboarded 8 frontline Ghana Health Service (GHS) clinicians to staff the PROMPTS helpdesk, marking an important step towards government ownership of the maternal health service. By building the capacity of public-sector health workers to operate the helpdesk, GHS is beginning to embed PROMPTS within the country’s maternal and newborn health system.
PROMPTS has already reached more than 80,000 pregnant and postpartum women across Ghana. The platform now operates in collaboration with 1,654 health facilities across 16 regions within the country.
Meeting mothers’ needs beyond the clinic: why the helpdesk matters
Mothers often face urgent questions during pregnancy and the postpartum period between their clinic visits. They may notice a worrying symptom, feel uncertain about medication, experience reduced fetal movement, or develop a concern after childbirth at any time.
PROMPTS connects mothers with trusted health information through AI-enabled two-way messaging. AI reads and triages high volumes of incoming questions, while trained clinicians review complex cases, provide empathetic guidance, and support referrals when mothers need facility-based care. Bringing GHS clinicians onto the helpdesk strengthens that human layer as PROMPTS continues to grow.
Building local capacity through partnership
GHS staffing the PROMPTS helpdesk builds on the national Memorandum of Understanding signed by Jacaranda Health and the GHS in June 2025. The agreement set out a framework for integrating PROMPTS more closely with Ghana’s health system.
Today, the GHS clinicians working at the helpdesk respond to questions about pregnancy symptoms, medications, postpartum family planning, mental health concerns, and danger signs. They also review cases escalated by AI that require clinical judgement and, where necessary, support referrals to facility-based care.
A structured performance and quality process supports the collaboration. Staff receive daily reports showing the number of tickets answered, while the head of the unit receives monthly reports on both team and individual performance. Jacaranda Health provides ongoing remote support via phone calls and a dedicated WhatsApp group, along with occasional in-person visits from the Helpdesk Administration team.
These systems help maintain service quality while building the GHS team’s capacity to take on a larger operational role.
Early results show a meaningful contribution
The helpdesk currently handles an average of 6,500 responses per month, which is expected to increase as we reach more mothers. AI resolves 44% of these directly. The remaining 56% splits evenly between GHS clinicians (28%) and Jacaranda Health’s helpdesk staff (28%). GHS clinicians now carry more than a quarter of the total monthly workload, helping PROMPTS maintain human clinical oversight as message volumes grow.
To support the team, Jacaranda Health and GHS cost-shared the practical resources needed to work consistently, i.e. laptops, team allowances, internet access, etc, while the partnership develops a longer-term operating model.
Building a cost-efficient platform for national scale
Alongside helpdesk staffing, Jacaranda Health and the Ghana Health Service are exploring other approaches to maintaining a sustainable platform as PROMPTS scales nationally. These include advancing commitments under the national MOU, developing cost-sharing arrangements, working toward integration with the Ghana Health Management Information System, and pursuing telecommunications subsidies that could reduce messaging costs as the number of users increases. Each of these efforts addresses a different part of sustainability.