Transcript
RICHARD HAPA: The situation now is that we don't have enough registered nurses, for example our outpatient daily service is only up until four o'clock in the afternoon and then after that it will be closed because there are not enough staff to take it on until late at night. Even in the wards, in the different divisions in the hospital we also have shortages too because in most of the wards there is only two registered nurses down there and maybe three to four nurse aides, which is not enough, really enough to take care of the 68 beds in the hospital.
KOROI HAWKINS: Is it a case of there not being enough registered nurses in Munda in the Western Province or is it a case that you don't have the money to hire them?
RH: We are getting registered nurses under the College of Nursing but the thing is that still we do not have enough, due to the financial status of the hospital.
KH: And what is the call you are making for remedying this, or your solution to this?
RH: We are trying to ask the Western Province and the government if they can give us some established nursing force created for us and the hospital that is going to be taken care of by the government.
KH: How many of those established positions would you need?
RH: Currently I think we need another 10, that is for the hospital, and if we can have another four for the Nursing College to become like nursing tutors and lecturers here. Apart from nursing, in terms of medical officers too, we have a shortage of medical officers here. Currently it is only myself who is looking after the hospital. All the divisions of the hospital so it's not really up [to it]. The burden is excessive. I am trying to take care of all the provisional services as well as the administration and in terms of the other issues that come out. We also need the medical officers as well.
KH: So currently you are the only doctor at the hospital?
RH: Yes. I am the only doctor at the hospital. We have our supportive partners outside, overseas, doctors and nurses, they come for a short period of time which is good but still we need some medical officials who are here, who at least are allowed to be contracted, or maybe they can be here for at least two to three years.
KH: And how many doctors do you need to reduce the burden?
RH: In comparison to our neighbouring hospital, which is Gizo Hospital, they are a 60 bed hospital too and still they have three or four doctors there but here we are 68 beds and still the burden of taking care of patients in terms of medical officers, it needs, I think another two or three doctors here so we can share the load.
Dr Richard Hapa said the government had previously offered 10 established nursing positions but those were being offered to key church funded staff to try and retain them.
He said this was because the government salary package was more lucrative than that provided by the church, but also because there was a staff housing shortage that needed to be addressed.
Urgent requests for additional doctors for the hospital however have yet to be replied to.
According to the World Health Organisations 2012 Health Service Delivery Profile Solomon Islands is classified as one of 57 countries deemed to have a critical shortage of health workers.
It said there was a significant workforce deficit on every level of care in Solomon Islands, with 0.21 doctors per 1,000 people; 0.11 dentists; 0.11 pharmacists; 1.7 nurses and 0.26 midwives.
As well as limited numbers, there was also a heavy bias in workforce distribution with approximately 24 percent of the total health workforce based in the National Referral Hospital including more than 73 percent of doctors, 100 percent of specialists and 33 percent of nurses.
