By Carlena Knight
Local nurses are being given the assurance that their needs are still at the top of the priority list for the government.
Cabinet Spokesperson Melford Nicholas made the assurance while speaking on Thursday at the Post Cabinet Press Briefing over the possible addition of an undisclosed number of nurses from Ghana.
Nicholas explained that although Cabinet intends to recruit from the Motherland, this does not mean that Cabinet has neglected the current cadre that they have now.
“There are ongoing discussions and negotiations with the nursing association, particularly at the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre (SLBMC). I am aware that the board there is in furtive negotiations with them and so we continue to operate on all floors and it’s just to indicate that in so far as there are any shortages of personnel that we are prepared to look at friendly governments.
“Clearly, there is going to be a shortage at the end of the day, but we want to be able to engage with the nursing fraternity here to ensure that they are at peace with the government in terms of the level of remuneration packages that they need to be able to give their best service, but even when that is completed, there are still likely to be some shortages and that is the reason why we have undertaken that directional objective of looking at bringing trained nurses from other jurisdictions,” Nicholas explained.
Health Minister, Sir Molwyn Joseph, made the announcement to Cabinet last week about the plans to recruit the Ghanaian nurses in an attempt to improve the delivery of public health services in Antigua and Barbuda.
And while details remain slim on what stage the recruitment process is at, Nicholas did explain that they will fill the gap where the shortage of nurses is evident.
Last month, Barbados successfully recruited over 100 English-speaking nurses from the West African nation who have been trained to meet US standards and have several years of experience – all characteristics that bode well for their potential introduction into the system here in Antigua and Barbuda.