Rahael: Refurbished Health Centres face manpower shortage

Minister John Rahael made the disclosure on Thursday night when he formally opened the 33rd annual convention of the Dental Association of Trinidad and Tobago (DATT) at the Cascadia Hotel.

Rahael also identified what he called a more serious problem facing the dental services — a shortage of manpower needed to run the clinics.

In this connection, he asked DATT to help.

While disclosing that Trinidad and Tobago has the only dental school in the English-speaking Caribbean, the minister lamented that very few of the graduates had chosen to join the public service.

He acknowledged that this was due to large discrepancies in salaries paid to dentists when measured against what their medical counterparts obtained.

According to Minister Rahael, there are plans to decentralise dental services to the Regional Health Authority, and this should alleviate some of the problems faced in attracting and retaining staff.

Minister Rahael noted that the University of the West Indies School of Continuing Studies, in collaboration with the School of Dentistry, had started a programme to train Dental Surgery Assistants, and will eventually offer Associate Degrees in Dental Hygiene, Dental Technology and Dental Nurses.

This programme, he said, was being supported by the Ministry of Health.

"It is hoped that this will in some way alleviate the shortage of dental auxiliaries, in both the public service and private sec tor," said Rahael.

He urged all dental nurses and assistants currently in the service, to take advantage of these opportunities to have their skills upgraded.

The minister said he recently had discussions with dental nurses and dental surgery assistants, and they outlined several long-standing problems.

In this connection he said, he was awaiting further clarification on certain issues, so that he could assist in finding solutions.

He also discussed with the Dental Council several matters, including the problems of funding.

In another area the minister said the ministry, in conjunction with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the UWI School of Dentistry recently conducted, an oral health survey in Trinidad and Tobago.

It was the first survey completed since 1989 and was done in accordance with standards laid down by the World Health Organisation.The results of the survey will be presented at a workshop to be held on June 28 at the Cascadia Hotel. The minister said currently, the ministry is engaged in a Health Sector Reform programme, funded by the Inter-American Develop-ment Bank.