THE National Government will continue to support Nurses Supervised Practice Program by allocating SBD4 million in this year’s health budget.
This statement was made by Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS), National Head of Nursing, Michael Larui in his keynote address during the recent 2021 Nurses Registration ceremony, Thursday.
Mr. Larui said the Democratic Coalition Government for Advancement acknowledges the importance of investments for economic and community prosperity by better preparing for the pandemic.
“This is currently addressed in the development of the Public Health emergency Bill that is now before the Bills and Legislation Committee.
“The government through MHMS places high regard to RDP by investing in the health workforce –particularly nurses.
“Nursing care accounts for approximately 80 per cent of the contacts between patients and healthcare providers.
“In this regard, the government continues to support the nurses supervised practice program by allocating 4 million dollars in this year’s health budget,” Mr. Larui said.
However, Mr. Larui added the changes to healthcare delivery due to COVID-19 cannot be understated.
“We were challenged with providing health services while resourcing COVID-19. Care for chronic health conditions has been disrupted with early discharges from hospital to home, rescheduling on non-urgent elective procedures/ outpatient appointments and redeployment of staff.
“This calls for transformation of health services across the continuum including primary, secondary, community and acute care,” he said.
He added in the response to COVID-19, many public health programmes have been affected through suspension of their activities and repurposing of allocated budget to the response.
“The challenge for us was to be innovative in ensuring that services continue unhindered in the midst of situations such as this,” Mr. Larui said.
By ESTHER NURIA
Newsroom, Honiara
