Guyana needs foreign healthcare workers

Apr 03, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor,

No one should be surprised that nurses and healthcare workers are leaving for a better standard of living and better salary, with the first choice of destination, if possible; being the United States.

It does not matter how much oil Guyana has, citizens are still migrating out of Guyana for better pastures. The fact is the standard of living here will never equate to the Americas or the UK. Neither will the salary offered to healthcare workers. With all the new hospitals slated to be built, we will need healthcare workers who are constantly upskilled; otherwise, the well-to-do will still leave to go overseas for better care. We want to see knowledgeable workers when we go to hospitals. Who cares where they are from?

With that said, any medical doctor will say that every minute counts when it comes to life and death. The new recruits from Bangladesh don’t speak English as their first language, so there will be issues with translation and most importantly communication and probably delays in getting the correct diagnosis of Guyanese. What was the main criterion for selecting such a massive number of healthcare workers whose first language is not English? obviously none. Would they get training classes in English Language so they can communicate effectively and quickly?

As for the opposition’s complaints, which they do so well about everything-was the government encouraged to get English speaking recruits, say from Africa? Why Africa? Because it’s an overpopulated continent, with a high number of unemployed youth with few job opportunities in most fields.

Who cares if the soon to arrive healthcare workers vote for the PPP, as some imply. The PPP has accomplished more in government than the former military man’s government that once was at the head of this country. The Opposition will not be in power in the near future, regardless of where the healthcare workers come from and if they vote or not. It’s irrelevant. Everyone knows that. The question to ask the Opposition is: where were you and what were you doing when you were in government a few years ago?

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