One hundred and twenty nurses from the Republic of Ghana are scheduled to arrive in Antigua and Barbuda next weekend , as the government moves to ease staffing shortages in the public healthcare system.
The nurses are expected to arrive on January 23 , according to Director General of Communications in the Prime Minister’s Office, Maurice Merchant, who addressed the matter during Thursday’s post-Cabinet media briefing.
“Cabinet welcomed the arrival of 120 nurses from the Republic of Ghana,” Merchant said, adding that they “will serve within the public health care system of Antigua and Barbuda.”
Merchant said the nurses will be deployed primarily at the Celeste Bird Medical Centre, as well as in community health clinics, schools and other health institutions.
“These are highly trained, qualified individuals coming out of Ghana,” he said. “Most of them are experienced nurses and they are expected to make an impact within the healthcare delivery system in Antigua and Barbuda.”
He said the additional staff are expected to reduce pressure on existing healthcare workers, noting that Antigua and Barbuda continues to lose nurses to overseas recruitment.
“On a weekly basis, our nurses migrate,” Merchant said. “Our nurses are being poached because of their standards, because of how qualified they are.”
Merchant said the recruitment of Ghanaian nurses forms part of a contractual arrangement between the two countries and is one element of the government’s response to ongoing workforce shortages.
“Importing of nurses from Ghana is one aspect. Training is another aspect,” he said, pointing to ongoing efforts to train local nurses through the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus.
He said the government’s long-term objective remains self-sufficiency in healthcare staffing, but acknowledged that immediate intervention is required to maintain service delivery.
“There is a shortage,” Merchant said. “The government believes that in order to make sure that the health care system remains able to provide the service it intends to for the public of Antigua and Barbuda, there is the need for nurses.”