.png)
00:00
00:00
00:00
Dr. Christopher Tufton
By Nakinskie Robinson
Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton is not opposed to the possible recruitment of foreign nurses, particularly from the Philippines.
But the health minister says locals are being prioritised in ongoing efforts to fill vacancies in the health sector.
The sector has been experiencing a high turnover, with 500 nurses having left since 2018, prompting mass recruitment efforts by the government.
Dr. Tufton, who was providing an update on the ministry's the career expo and employment fair held last month, explained that the exercise coincided with the signing of an agreement with the Philippines for faculty exchanges, specialist training and knowledge and experience sharing in epidemiology, biotechnology and health care management, among other areas.
When asked by opposition member Dr. Morais Guy whether the government would also consider the employment of nurses from the Asian country, Dr. Tufton explained that if the immediate gaps cannot be filled by local professionals then the government must look elsewhere.
"We want to engage our people first even before we seek to encourage and invite others to come in, but I don't think we can leave that off the table either, to be totally frank. As you know we have over 300 Cuban health care workers here in Jamaica and we do have from other nationalities.
"And I think the Philippines is a worthy partner because on a per capita basis they only compare with Jamaica in terms of the export of health care workers to the world on a per capita basis; they are being a bigger country of course," he noted.
Dr. Tufton said the government must be strategic in its efforts to expand hospitals.
Further discussions are underway through a joint-technical working group between Jamaica and the Philippines, where stakeholders will organise cross faculty training and clinical rotation in areas where shortages exist.
"We're building out hospitals now which will give us more clinical rotation space. The Philippines has over 400 hospitals for the 100-plus million population. They have enough space to allow for some clinical rotation so our people can go there as well as [have] access to their faculty either remotely or in person. So that's the first idea."
The Health Minister was speaking Tuesday afternoon in the House of Representatives.