KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Health, Dr Christopher Tufton says the ministry is aware and is taking steps to ease the current shortage of specialist nurses in public health sector.

The ministry, in a statement Monday night, said that its renewed concern comes in light of a recruitment drive for specialist nurses for overseas employment.

Dr Tufton said that this overseas recruitment happens from time to time as Jamaican nurses, particularly specialist trained nurses, are in high demand due to their excellent training and capacity.

“Our nurses have been sought after for recruitment by many countries resulting in a constant need for training and recruitment for our facilities. This is why I have been meeting with key stakeholders at the Ministry of Health and the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) and we have already set in train strategies to ease this shortage,” said Dr Tufton.

‎The minister has instructed that the parallel training programme of the Ministry of Health for specialist nurses be expanded and extended beyond its intended closure date of 2016 to augment those who will be trained by the University of Technology (UTech).

‎The UHWI will also be expanding its intake to facilitate increased availability.

‎Dr Tufton said that the remuneration offered by the developed countries cannot be matched at this time though there are several incentives in place for nurses. He says it is ‘difficult to keep all we train and so the Ministry is also exploring options for recruitment abroad from countries such as Cuba and India”.

The ministry says it is expecting 47 health care workers including doctors, dentists and specialist nurses to arrive in the island in the coming weeks starting with the first batch of 20 scheduled to arrive on Monday March 21.