By LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporter

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH Minister Michael Darville said more than 50 healthcare professionals from Ghana and Cuba will arrive next week to address long-standing nurse and other shortages in the country.

Along with some 18 Ghanaian nurses coming to work at the Princess Margaret Hospital and the Rand Memorial Hospital, 37 Cuban healthcare professionals are also expected.

“This is very important because some of our nurses are working overtime and we don’t want a burnout,” Dr Darville said. “So, we have also been recruiting in the Philippines, and we also will be recruiting some nurses from Cuba again.”

He said the Cuban nurses would be lab technicians, X-ray technicians, physiotherapists, nurses, and biomedical engineers.

“We did an assessment, and we realised that ther e are shortages in the manpower resources at our hospitals and we need to get foreign expertise in the country while we begin to train Bahamians,” he said.

Dr Darville said 37 nurses are being trained at the recently launched Trained Clinical Nurse Programme at the Public Hospitals Authority Academy.

“Sometime early next year, we will be bringing on an additional 50, all in an attempt to try and train 300-350 nurses in the country over the next few years,” he said.

He added that security will be beefed up at hospitals and clinics throughout The Bahamas.

A viral video recently showed people fighting in a hospital. Dr Darville said the clip did not show a hospital or healthcare facility in The Bahamas. However, he said other incidents highlight the need for more security.

“The ministry is now on a plan to bring in additional security, along with private security measures, and this is being done as we speak,” he said.

“A couple months ago, we had an incident at one of our clinics, and it really was an eye-opener, and we moved very quickly to address it with the police, but since then, we are bringing on additional security officers.”