Come back, nurses urged

2005-08-30 11:15

Johanneburg - Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang will later this week meet South African nurses working in Britain to discuss the possibility of their returning home, she announced at a conference in Boksburg on Tuesday.

She said the group has expressed interest in coming back but that it was up to the department to ensure there would be no obstacles preventing them rejoining the public health sector.

"I am confident we'll succeed in bringing back home our own".

The drive is part of the health department's plans to increase the number of nurses in South Africa which includes lobbying those abroad to return home.

Addressing a group of retired nurses at a one-day conference in Boksburg, she added the National Health Council (NHC) has decided the number of nurses on training should be increased.

The NHC is made up of the minister and health MECs from all nine provinces.

Tshabalala-Msimang said among the measures to be taken would be the reopening of nursing colleges that had been shut down.

"We are aware that as a consequence of cutting back on training and closure of these nursing colleges, the academic staff also left," she said.

"Our efforts are therefore to also recruit back to the service, tutors and clinical facilitators".

Tshabalala-Msimang also said the recently tabled Nursing Bill, which aims to introduce community service for nurses, would contribute significantly to the equitable distribution of nurses around the country.

- SAPA