Basseterre, St. Kitts (SKNIS): Emergency care at the Joseph N. France General Hospital has improved recently, and is expected to be enhanced even more, with the recruitment of new doctors to serve in the Accident and Emergency (A and E) section.
The new development was announced by the Prime Minister and Minister of Health, the Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew, during a special interview with members of the press on Thursday (March 02, 2023).
“We will be bringing on four new doctors who will work in the A and E – two of them are very experienced, and the other two are very competent, and they are coming in the A and E starting either this week or next week so that we can strengthen the cadre of doctors …,” the Prime Minister said.
The expected arrival of the doctors follows earlier steps taken by the government to recruit additional personnel to serve in the accident and emergency section.
“We have asked retired nurses to come and to be triage nurses. Triage requires a high level of expertise because it is the triage nurse who determines whether you need urgent care, you can wait, or whether they can send you to see your doctor the next day,” Dr. Drew stated.
In addition to their expertise, their years of experience in healthcare service make retired nurses even more qualified to carry out the necessary patient assessment. This helps to significantly reduce the time persons spend awaiting emergency medical attention.