OPPOSITION Leader Hon Wale is concerned with the recent reports of the mass departure of senior nurses to work overseas.
In a statement today, Hon Wale said that these recent shift or movement of workers is due to the National Government’s pure negligence to address concerns raised by the nurses that serve across the country.
He urged the National Government not to turn a blind eye on these issues.
He said the mass shift of nurses to greener pastures in another country is a direct result of government’s actions and policy approach to the plight of our nurses.
Hon. Wale adds one of the drastic actions by the government during the state of emergency was the suspension of the Solomon Islands Nurses Association (SINA) and that their claims were never heard nor addressed.
The Opposition Leader calls on the National Government to reinstate SINA and that it must be respected as the body that looks after the welfare of nurses.
“The Association is the key body that the government can work with to deal with these sort of issues specifically the mass shifting of nurses.”
“Once nurses leave in numbers it will have a massive negative impact on our health system and the Government must be held accountable for this,” he said.
He said it is absurd that the Government is prioritising other areas such as the proposal to the Parliamentary Entitlements Commission (PEC) to increase MPs entitlements and allocation of more funding for the upcoming pacific games.
“The DCGA’s heartless and self-service style of leadership comes with a price and clearly at the expense of public officers. These are the very people that need a pay rise and not members of Parliament. Their welfare is paramount because of the important role they play in our society,” he said.
Hon Wale said the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Health and Medical Services need to address this issue with urgency.
“We cannot afford to lose our senior and experienced nurses. It would be a disaster,” he said.
He said the draconian style of governance by the current DCGA is not favourable for our country and our people.
Photo credit: WHO
