SA nurses urged to come home

2005-09-05 22:38

Cape Town - South African nurses working in the United Kingdom and wanting to come home should work through their association, Asanuk, to ease their return, said Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Monday.

The department's Sibani Mngadi said: "She also urged the nurses working through the Association of SA Nurses in the UK (Asanuk) to work closely with her department in addressing any challenges that may hinder their return to our country."

Tshabalala-Msimang met about 200 South African nurses in the United Kingdom on Sunday. She repeated her call to such nurses to return home to use their enhanced skills in provincial hospitals.

They should apply for positions that were "constantly advertised" in provincial hospitals.

Improving health services

At the meeting, Asanuk chairperson Mmapule Tladi-Small said South African nurses had expressed their desire to contribute to improving the provision of health services "back at home", by using skills they had acquired while working in a developed setting like Britain.

Mngadi said matters discussed included pay, working conditions and the retention of quality staff.

He said: "The minister used this opportunity to update the nurses on the interventions being made by the department of health to improve the working conditions for health professionals in public-health sector."

This included a human resource plan for health, and payment of rural- and scarce-skills allowances.

Tshabalala-Msimang also told them of the planned "major" increase in the number of nurses to be trained in South Africa.

Tshabalala-Msimang was in London for a two-day conference on the replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria that started on Monday.

- SAPA