- Government addressing health sector human resource capacity challenges
- EC$500 honorarium is immediate step to address compensation
- Unfreezing of key positions allows individuals functioning in these positions to be confirmed
Health Minister Jonathan La Crette has told the Upper House that a monthly EC$500 honorarium will be paid to nurses for the fiscal year of January to December 2023, as the Government’s way of deterring a mass exodus of nurses.
“It was our olive branch to say to them we need you; you cannot leave. If you go, our health sector is finished. We understand that you want upward mobility, but we have not been able to provide that through successive governments over the years. We know you want betterment for your family; you want your son to go to university, and your daughter to attend college. You want to purchase a house; you want a better lifestyle,” La Crette said while contributing to the 2023 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure debate.
“The olive branch was extended to say to them that you can’t leave us at this critical juncture in our healthcare cycle, and I am going to say it again, nurses, we need you. Doctors, we need you. The situation is not of the best; we understand that but hear the cry of your minister, if you leave, we are crippled. If you leave, we are doomed. Give us the opportunity to value you and to show you that you mean something to our system,” he pleaded to the nurses.
Over the years, Grenada has become one of the countries in the region that has lost dozens of nurses and other healthcare workers to regional and international recruiters offering better salaries and benefits.
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell’s budget 2023 statement delivered on 5 December said that his administration is taking concrete steps to address the health sector’s human resource capacity challenges. “Of great concern is the mass exodus of our nurses. We have engaged the nursing fraternity and have listened to their concerns, including poor working conditions, job security, nurse shortages, and inadequate compensation. We will move swiftly to address the regularisation of our nurses and the training of more nursing professionals,” he said before announcing the honorarium.
“As an immediate step in addressing the matter of compensation, we will pay all our nurses an honorarium of $500 per month or $6,000 for the next 12 months, while we work towards a long-term solution. A sum of $4.2 million has been allocated for this initiative,” said the Prime Minister. He also announced that 21 mission-critical positions across the health system would be filled because his administration has approved the unfreezing of key positions so that individuals functioning in these positions can be confirmed.
Nurses worldwide are over worked and under paid. While money is nice, working conditions also need an influx of cash. Hospitals without simple equipment such as IV poles, IV pumps, readily available gloves, alcohol pads, to list just a few…those things make life much better for nurses working. A happy nurse is a happy patient. As an advanced degree RN from the states, having been an inpatient in Grenada, it amazes me that there are any nurses left here. Low wages, difficult working conditions without basic and necessary equipment, long hours and lack of appreciation for what they do and how they do their jobs. I applaud Grenadian nurses! PM, please help!
Great….but I am yet to hear of serious economic investments that can generate revenues to meet expenses. Don’t tell me this entirely based CBI…..a program will be canceled.
A step in the right direction! Nurses should be paid a lot more than the police you have doing JACK, just standing around wasting time!