BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Ministry of Health will use 2010 to address a shortage in qualified nursing candidates and enhance rundown health centres through its Health Sector Improvement Project.
The disclosure was made by Permanent Secretary Elvis Newton, who confirmed to SKNVibes that the local demand for nurses was higher than the present supply.
He attributed the situation to an insufficient number of nursing trainees and revealed that his ministry was working with the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College to increase enrolment in the Health Sciences programme.
“The sector is not attracting enough recruits. Nursing was once a popular career choice, but the expansion of options that are available to young people has resulted in less of them joining the field.
“Although our partnership with the college has not yet resulted in the quantity we would like to have, over the last three years or so the quality we have been attracting is tremendous. I am satisfied we can work with the persons we are getting from the system.”
Newton said the ministry would consider training employees such as nursing assistants so they could eventually become enrolled in the registered nursing programme.
A World Bank report released earlier this year indicated that a “chronic shortage” of nurses in the English-speaking Caribbean was limiting the quality of healthcare and hindering overall regional development.
According to the study, over three times as many Caribbean nurses were working in Canada, the US and Britain in comparison to those in their home countries. The report estimated that there were 7 800 working nurses in the entire English-speaking Caribbean, which translated to about one nurse for every thousand persons.
In addition to the emphasis on nursing, Newton disclosed that the ministry would improve and refit several health centres around the island to enhance their services delivery. The Old Road and Basseterre Health Centres would be among the first to receive fresh attention.
During his 2010 Budget Presentation, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Dr. Hon. Denzil Douglas noted that EC$34.8M has been allocated towards the health sector for the implementation of a national health insurance scheme and projects such as the ongoing national strategic HIV/AIDS plan and the establishment of a new Haemodialysis Unit at the Joseph N. France Hospital.
Resources will also be devoted to the upgrading of the Mary Charles Hospital in Molineux and fighting the spread of non-communicable diseases to reduce mortality and morbidity.
“We’re looking to do with Mary Charles what we did with Pogson in Sandy Point. That is, combine the features of a hospital and a health centre into an integrated facility. We want it to offer community services in addition to its hospice capabilities.
“We cannot continue to offer healthcare in a defragmented way,” Newton explained. “Mary Charles will become a sort of one-stop service for persons in that part of the island so the accessibility and availability of healthcare is maintained.”
