Opposition Leader applauds MHMS for recruiting more nurses

OPPOSITION Leader Hon Matthew Wale has commended the Ministry of Health & Medical services for recruiting more nurses to assist in the country’s COVID situation.

This followed a Government statement this week that the health ministry has recruited an additional 130 probationers and 23 registered nurses to the National Referral Hospital.

In a statement today, Hon Wale said this is welcoming news.

The Opposition Leader urged the health ministry to also prioritise response plans to affected provinces.

“Reports of shortage of nurses, quarantine and isolation facilities in the provinces must also be addressed urgently,” he said,

Hon Wale said 80% of the country’s population are in the provinces and priority and focus must not only be in Honiara.

The Opposition Leader said there must be a clear articulated response strategy for all the provinces to cover vaccination, food supply and access to health services.

Hon Wale adds that the manual card filling process in vaccination is taking a very long time.

He said the ministry should look at ways to improve this process to digitally capture vaccination information to speed up the process.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Leader has urged the ministry to share the epidemiological advice from the health experts to any COVID response plans for Honiara and the provinces.

Hon Wale also reiterated his earlier call to allow foreign epidemiologists with the help of local experts to lead response plans going forward.

ENDS//