HEALTH Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, yesterday disclosed that in partnership with the Ministry of Labour, a six month Patient Care Assistant training has been organised to respond to the needs of several individuals who fell victim to a nursing school scam.
However, Ramsammy stressed that citizens must be more responsible and ensure they are getting value for the money they invest, ensure that the programmes they subscribe to are legitimate.
The end of the six month training is provided free of cost and hosted by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
At the end, the participants will be better placed to either pursue a nursing programme or continue in the sector as a patient care assistant.
Employment in the public or private sectors was also highlighted as a very likely possibility at the end of training.
Registration for this opportunity begins on Friday at the Health Ministry headquarters, Brickdam, where a team from the collaborating ministries and other stakeholder agencies are expected to spearhead the process.
This response was prompted by several students, who visited the minister last week and reported that a woman, Nanda Kissoon, defrauded them into paying monies for a nursing course.
The students paid $4,000 for registration and another $7,500 each month to secure the qualifications they wanted, since the majority of them are unqualified. They were told that they would be able to complete a three year programme in just 12 months.
Many of the individuals scammed turned to this programme because they were not in possession of all the requirements for entry into other nursing programmes – they fell short with the qualifications secured at the secondary level.
The woman, under another name, in 2009, was involved in a similar scheme which was exposed by the Health Ministry. The woman was later taken into police custody following the allegations, but the matter did not end in a satisfactory manner for many – an area where the Health Ministry has no jurisdiction.
He noted his sympathy to the plight of the students and their ambition to enter the health sector – hence the offer for support to position the individuals.
However, Ramsammy stressed that the bogus nursing school is not recognised by the Health Ministry, since it is not accredited by the Accreditation Board of the Education Ministry.
He added that in addition, no accreditation can be given unless it goes through the local Nursing Council. This was not done.