BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – COMING on the heels of the Deputy Prime Minister’s explanation pertaining to the recruitment of nurses from the Philippines and the debunking of salary disparity, Junior Minister with Responsibility for Health, Senator Wendy Phipps said the issue has been hypocritically slanted to achieve political advantage.
“The Federal Government considered it rather unfortunate that so much time and energy has been consumed with this issue of foreign nurses’ recruitment that has for the most part being deliberately and hypocritically slanted to achieve political advantage and disgruntlement. The public deserves to know the truth regarding Government’s need to occasionally recruit foreign medical personnel to meet the specialised healthcare needs of our citizens and residents.”
This, among others, was articulated by Senator Phipps last evening (Nov. 29) during an address to the nation.
She stated that since Thursday, last, local media houses were consumed by discussions surrounding a July 29, 2016 letter that originated from the Ministry of Health concerning the recruitment of 17 nurses from the Philippines.
The Senator disclosed that the Government had recruited the nurses with the aid of a Suriname-based recruitment services provider.
Following the leakage of information contained in the letter, Senator Phipps said it was a violation of the regulations that govern public service recruitment and appointment of officers’ code, which require an oath of office and secrecy or affirmation of office and secrecy on appointment to an office in the public service.
“It is an obvious lack of professionalism by civil servants who broke the basic rules of workplace ethics by publicizing confidential information. This is an abhorrent act which should never be condoned or tolerated in any workplace, be it the private or public sector.”
She stated that it is of concern with which the Ministry of Health and the Government take greater issue for a number of reasons.
Senator Phipps said the first reason is that the decision for recruiting nurses from the Philippines is not a new practice by the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis.
“To be precise, Government has been in the habit of recruiting nurses for years. In the past five years alone, starting in 2011 during the former Labour Administration, a total of 27 foreign nurses have been hired. These nurses were recruited from countries such as Nigeria, the USA, Cuba, Taiwan, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Guyana, Santo Domingo and the Philippines. All foreign nurses who have been recruited to work in our Federation provide specialist skill sets currently lacking among our local nursing fraternity, especially Oncology, Haemodialysis, Intensive Care and Mental Health.”
The other reason she noted was: “The recruitment of foreign nurses with specialised skill sets is meant to build capacity among our local nurses, and in time have knowledge transfer so that the following nurses can be repatriated. This system works!”
To support her point, the Senator made reference to a nurse from the Philippines who once worked at the JNF Hospital and in 2012 had greatly assisted greatly in establishing the Haemodialysis Unit at the medical institution; a department, which Phipps said is now ably headed by a local Assistant Nurse Manager.
“We anticipate similar results with the two newly-recruited nurses for Oncology, the newest department at JNF for which another local Nurse Manager will be the head,” she added.
She pointed out that based on government’s experience over the years, it was discovered that nurses from the Philippines are top quality, hard working performers, and that is the reason for more of them are being hired than their counterparts in other countries.
The Junior Minister of Health indicated that the recruitment of medical personnel by Governments of the Federation was not limited to nurses.
“We have, for years, also employed foreign doctors. A large majority of whom have been recruited from Cuba, and bone specialist skills to the Federation that are either absent or in short supply locally. This is what sensible governments do to ensure that their people receive the best care possible in spite of limited local resources.”
Addressing the issue of salary, Senator Phipps reiterated some of the comments made by Deputy Prime Minister Shawn Richards, noting that foreign nurses are being paid on the same scale as their local counterparts.
“The salary packages being provided to the nurses recruited from the Philippines thus far, that is 12 out of 17, is in no way out of the ordinary. Every one of these nurses posseses a comprehensive Bachelors degree in nursing plus post graduate certification in their area of specialty. As such, they are paid at K33, the normal benchmark for civil servants with a Bachelors degree.”
She also addressed the issue of housing allowance for the recruited foreign nurses.
“It should also be noted that the matter of housing allowance of $500 that has been paid to the nurses is also in keeping with the Statutory Rules and Orders (SR&O) of the civil service. In particular, number 8 of 2014, Section 38, Subsection 8, oversees appointments and travel arrangements, which clearly states that foreign workers recruited by the government must be provided with accommodations at the government’s expense.
“I must emphasise that these SR&Os would have been passed into law by the previous Administration in 2014. Therefore, this Team Unity Government is simply carrying out the letter and spirit of the Civil Service Regulations that are already in place.”
Noting the Government’s embarkment on additional services, such an Oncology Department for cancer treatment and the new Mental Health Treatment Center, Phipps said: “It is obvious that our need for specialised skills would increase. In the case of the latter, it must be noted that there are no more than four Mental Health trained nursed in the Federation to serve a population of 50,000 people.”
The Junior Minister of Health said the Government is obligated to the citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis in the providence of healthcare and also to train local nurses in the requisite specialist areas.
“It is obvious that where required skills are lacking, the Government has an obligation to recruit requisite workers while we train our local cadre of nurses to meet the growing needs of our people. It takes four to five years to train specialist nurses and the necessary academic foundation must be in place. To do nothing would be irresponsible.
“It is the Government’s greatest wish that that more of our own people would take stock of the urgently needed medical skills and seek out opportunities for further training and qualification in these areas. In this way we will do much to advance our competitive advantage as a people while we build capacity in critical areas of healthcare delivery.”
