Medics warn of facilities, budget strain

By WANPIS AKO
EMPLOYING foreign doctors, nurses and teachers will put a strain on the availability of accommodation, facilities and budget, a senior medical practitioner said yesterday.
“However, the government’s proposal to lift the ban prohibiting them is commendable to bridge the gap in the specialised medical areas in the country,” Port Moresby General Hospital acting chief executive officer Dr David Mokela said.
He said the hospital was in the process of recruiting 10 nursing
officers from the Philippines.
“The specialist doctors and nurses will bring with them the skills that we do not have,” he said.
He said one problem for patients with foreigners was the language barrier but they could learn to cope.
But doctors and nurses have decried the government lifting the ban on foreigners.
“We are not happy with the move because our grievances are still outstanding,” Dr Alex Peawi, an emergency and medicine specialist at PMGH, said.
Peawi said some nurses and doctors
were still jobless and those employed were li­ving in settlements.
Steven Kome, a nur­sing officer at the hospital, said most hospitals had an aging workforce and casual officers.
He urged the Health Department to overhaul the workforce.
PNG Nurses Association general secretary Gordon Gala declined to comment.
The department’s workforce restructure was recently approved by the National Executive Council and is pending implementation.
A patient’s husband at the emergency ward said the local medical officers were treating patients well.