PM orders recruitment of retired nurses on contractual basis for Covid battle

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed the Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi to re-employ retired nurses on contractual basis if necessary, the Prime Minister’s Office said.

The Prime Minister issued this directive, on Wednesday, during a meeting at Temple Trees to discuss issues in the nursing service at the request of the chairman of the Public Service United Nurses Union, Ven. Murutthettuwe Ananda Nayaka Thera.

There are about 34,000 serving nurses countrywide and the purpose of this meeting was to discuss short-term and long-term solutions to the problems they are facing.

At the meeting, Ven. Murutthettuwe Ananda Nayaka Thera expressed his views on increasing the allowances, etc., given to nurses. He also complained that untrained nurses were working in the Intensive Care Unit of the Kotelawala Defence University Hospital and the Neville Fernando Hospital.

Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi said that the situation had arisen due to the fact that at present because fewer than 2,000 nurses were recruited for training per year.

The Prime Minister directed the Health Minister to introduce a short-term intensive care training programme for nurses.

Secretary to the Ministry of Health Dr. S. H. Munasinghe said that 840 nurses had already been given short-term training in intensive care units and a programme would be implemented for nearly 1,000 more.

Dr. Munasinghe said that a Cabinet memorandum seeking the extension of the retirement age of nurses to 63 years had been submitted for approval.

The Prime Minister recalled that all the health workers were doing an excellent job in the face of the Covid epidemic and asked the Secretary to the Ministry of Health about their vaccination programme.

Secretary to the Ministry of Health, said that almost everyone in the health sector had been vaccinated against Covid-19 and a programme to give their families booster doses had got underway.

The Prime Minister also instructed the officials to formulate a proper system for providing transport facilities to the nurses during the lockdown.

The Prime Minister also instructed the Minister of Health to take necessary steps to expedite the process of awarding nursing degrees. He was informed that the matter had been referred to the Attorney General’s Department for drafts.

The PM the relevant draft would be presented to Parliament expeditiously.

Ven. Murutthettuwe Ananda Nayaka Thera said that the allowance for nurses’ uniforms had not been increased since the previous Rajapaksa government. He requested that the allowance be increased. The Prime Minister said that a common decision in that regard could be taken in the forthcoming budget.

Gamini Senarath, Secretary to the Prime Minister, S.R. Attygalle, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Asela Gunawardena, Director General of Health Services, and H. A. D. Kalyani, General Secretary of the Public Service United Nurses Association, and other members of the union were also present at the discussion.