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Nurses say plans afoot to block them from migrating
…as authorities close local UK testing exam centre
Kaieteur News – Several local nurses, who were preparing to sit computer-based test (CBT) assessment examinations which would enable them to work in the United Kingdom have expressed frustration after the local testing centre closed its doors to the examinations three weeks ago.
Reports are that the examinations were only offered at the Global Technology testing centre on Camp Street through an arrangement with the Pearson Vue testing network and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) of the UK.
A registered nurse who was preparing to move to the UK said that the staff of Global Technology informed her via email recently that the centre was cancelling the examination she had paid to sit weeks earlier. She said she was later told by a staff that the institution was upgrading its systems to higher standards required by Pearson VUE and as a result, it discontinued offering the tests.
An affected nurse told this publication that she and her colleagues had already paid and booked to sit the examinations at Global Technology when they were abruptly informed that the centre was no longer offering the assessment. A nurse noted that she and her colleagues were refunded their monies.
While some nurses have already found alternatives to sit the examinations, some told this publication that they believe that the government is behind the closure of the testing facility at Global Technology. “It had to be that the government is involved. The government doesn’t want to pay nurses’ proper salaries and now they are trying to curtail our movement?” one of the nurses said.
The nurses noted that they were informed that the authorities are making every effort to curtail them from taking up jobs overseas. Some are considering moving to Caribbean countries where there is a high demand for Guyanese nurses.
Guyanese nurses over the years have been forced to protest for better working conditions
Last December, President Irfaan Ali announced several increases in salaries in the health sector. He said that at the time that nursing assistants would be earning $115,000 monthly while midwives would earn a minimum salary of $169,438 and staff nurses would earn $169,438 monthly. Staff nurses, midwives’ salaries increased to $195,000 following the president’s announcement.
A Guyanese registered nurse/midwife who recently moved to the UK said she and her colleagues earn an averagesalary of GY$520,000 monthly. This depends on qualifications and experience. The sum is in addition to lucrative overtime among other benefits. As part of her migration package, she said her children and spouse will be joining her in the UK.
Last February, during the 2022 national budget debates, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony admitted that Guyana is losing its nurses due to the government’s inability to compensate them with lucrative salaries. He said at the time that increases in salaries for the medical professionals would require more detailed studies. In August 2022, Dr. Anthony said the government was trying to find ways to stop nurses from taking up overseas offers. “The Health Ministry, through partnerships with Mount Sinai, the World Health Organization (WHO) and York University, Canada, is trying to create programmes that will entice nurses,” he said on the Guyana Dialogue online programme. Nurses have been leaving Guyana for higher paying job offers for years and since the COVID-19 pandemic, the numbers have been increasing as many cite the high cost of living here.
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