Difficult to get 1,000 nurses

WHILE wishing Health Minister John Rahael and the Government success in recruiting nurses from overseas to fill 1,000 vacancies in the public health sector, former Health Minister Dr Hamza Rafeeq conceded that this will be an uphill task. Rafeeq told Newsday the initiative was a commendable one and the Opposition had no problem with it. However he said it was very difficult to recruit nurses from overseas since they were being quickly absorbed by many countries.  “I wish him well,” the former Minister said. However Rafeeq criticised Rahael for saying that nurses never received a 25 percent incentive allowance from the former UNC government.

He said the records would show that all nurses in the RHA received that allowance in 2000 and the PSA never won any court action against the UNC on this matter. Rafeeq also said Rahael was wrong to claim that Government could not take certain actions unless the RHA 1994 Act was amended in the manner currently being proposed. Both Rahael and PSA President Jennifer Baptiste-Primus have dismissed UNC claims that the amended Act forces the PSA upon RHA workers as their representative union. The amended Act was passed in the House of Representatives last Friday.