AS the Ministry of Public Health continues to address the shortages of nurses in Guyana’s Health Sector, the Georgetown School of Nursing Annex II officially opened on Friday at the Critchlow Labour College. The move is intended to increase the intake ability of nursing schools across the country.

In her address, Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence said the opening of the facility was “critical milestone” in the development of the health care system in Guyana.
“Our nurses constitute the pillars upon which our health care system is founded. Without enough of them to deliver the health services, our best efforts at improvement in the provision of care are compromised, hence this accommodation to train and further develop our nurses,” the Minister said.

“The opening of yet another school of Nursing Annex underscores the fact that we at the Ministry recognise that in order to address the challenges… we need to expand our corps of nurses to provide quality care that is accessible to everyone everywhere,” she added.
The Annex II facilities include three classrooms, a clinical laboratory, a library and a staff room.

The Nursing Annex II adds to the three existing nursing schools across the country, namely the Charles Rosa School of Nursing in Region 10, the New Amsterdam School of Nursing in Region Six and the New Georgetown School Nursing Annex I.

The first batch of 90 trainees took the Nightingale Pledge, shortly after the Minister officially declared the facility opened. Of the 90 students entering the school, 30 signed up for the Registered Nurse Programme while the other 60 trainees are doing the Nursing Assistant Programme.

Minister Lawrence noted that in this initial batch, there is at least one student from each of the ten administrative regions. Once their programmes are completed, the nurses are expected to return to their respective regions.

The Public Health Minister said Annex II will help government fulfill its mandate of ensuring adequate healthcare is provided across all regions of the country.

“We at the MoPH are mandated to provide quality, affordable health care from the coastland to the hinterland leaving no one behind, so it behooves us to extend our human resources, our nurses, to provide a fillip to our initiatives to address shortcomings and reach our people even in the most remote location. We have to minimise our citizens travelling long distances to come to Georgetown for healthcare. So as a result of that, we have to ensure in those health facilities in the regions have adequate staffing,” the Minister explained.

Minister Lawrence also used the opportunity to highlight the need for inter-ministerial collaboration in the provision of universal healthcare. The Ministries of Communities and Social Protection were represented at the ceremony.

“The two Ministries represented here this afternoon are pivotal to the MoPH making significant and impactful inroads on the lives, and health of our residents in our communities. This emphasises that the MoPH cannot progress unilaterally, and that it is incumbent on the Ministries in question to work in tandem, in close concert to identify gaps and to ensure that working conditions are optimised. I look forward to our continued collaboration as we collaborate, as we collectively pool our efforts and resources to reach everyone everywhere,” Minister Lawrence said.

Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan, Minister Annette Ferguson said the provision of effective and efficient healthcare services across the country, ties in with the government’s wider plan of decentralising of all essential services.
“The establishment of this [school] is indicative of the government’s vision and unwavering commitment to deliver adequate health services to the people of Guyana; consistent with local government renewal that will ensure equity in delivery of services in all regions here in Guyana,” Minister Ferguson said

“As articulated by President David Granger this admin has resolutely and strategically embraced a deep decentralised approach to delivery. The objective is to unlock the potential and innovative capacity of our communities to provide locally derived solutions and chart a course of development. This entails residents having access to services within local areas,” she added.