Fraser quizzes gov’t over expats to locals nurse ratio
Third District Representative Julian Fraser has questioned the government over the current ratio of nurses in the territory, suggesting that more locals need to be trained as nurses and given opportunities to serve the BVI.
After being given a breakdown of the ratio of Belongers versus non-Belongers in the Nursing Department at the BVI Health Services Authority, Fraser insisted that the hospital was understaffed and argued that the ratio of nurses was heavily tilted towards non-Belongers.
Out of a total of 151 nurses, Health Minister Vincent Wheatley disclosed that there are nine Belongers at the Dr D Orlando Smith Hospital and just two Belongers at community health centres.
Fraser then questioned the Minister about his personal level of satisfaction with the current ratio that is in place at the hospital.
But Wheatley called Fraser’s question irrelevant and said there should be no issue about whether the government is satisfied with the current ratio in place.
“The hospital has to run, and we have to use the persons who are available to run the hospital,” Wheatley stated.
The Minister said he had no idea whether the hospital is currently understaffed with the present numbers in place and asked that the question be brought again at another sitting of the House of Assembly.
Fraser then pressed the Minister on what steps were being taken by the government to train locals in nursing and asked what opportunities were made available to them.
While noting that the requisite requirements of the Authority must first be met, Wheatley said the BVIHSA provides study leave support to locals on staff wishing to pursue such studies. He said applicants can also seek support through the government’s scholarship programme.
Minister Wheatley said the Authority is also exploring an arrangement with Coventry University in the UK to provide a nursing training programme in collaboration with the BVIHSA.
Wheatley said the government is also planning to roll out a major recruitment drive within the next two years to encourage health professionals to return to the territory to work, but admitted that current compensation arrangements remain a challenge for the government.
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9 OUT OF 151 ?????…..THAT’S NOT GOOD AT ALL….THANK YOU FRASER FOR EXPOSING THIS !!!!
No wonder people fraid to go in there
Everyone knows Fraser hates foreigners so nothing new here.
We know Frazier is not an expat lover and believe me the feelings are mutual. This country is so ungrateful the try to punch out the eyes of the expat at every chance. Let me say this right here the locals should be thankful by kissing the a$$ of expat in tola. Yes the action man said it. I am waiting for the back lash. But we must face facts we are the backbone the one with sense in tola. Just check slowman and you would see what I mean.
Fraser is the man!
Frazer is a joke he just there waiting to retire we need new blood
I’m tired of all this nonsense. As a Virgin Islander, let me say this: I have a lot of friends who went off to school for nursing and didn’t return.
They decided staying away was more beneficial to them than returning. They Migrated!!!
These nurses that are here chose to migrate to the BVI for various reasons. Let’s thank them for their service and appreciate them for coming here and working in our system.
Stop causing division in these working environments when BVI Islanders get all the support they need to become professionals in this field.
This ain’t the same man who puts the stop light by the round about in town block up the old traffic lol ,this is why we need expats in this place to leads ayo forward cause trust me some of ayo say ayo have masters and Bachelors degrees without common senses in this place .
are working in many health systems on earth just not the BVIHSA because of the low compensation, supply issues and incompetent hospital managers.
Frazier been around for 100 years and he is now just asking that question?
Instead why dont he propose scholarships whare they have to come back home and work for at least 5 years.
So many issues need to be rectified within our system and this is what this guy chooses to fixate on? We are truly a lost country. One hand cannot clap and we need each other. Does Mr. Frazer prefer an massively understaffed health system or a untrained one? Pick your poison.
These conversations make me sick.
EVERY WORKPLACE NEED EXPAT TO LOCAL RATIO
especially at management level
Some of us talk about racism and some of us bvi islanders have more hatered in our heart ❤️ and minds our own black people listening to that old coot.
Why every time our politicians try to look out for their people ayo always hating on them??? REMEMBER LOCALS COME FIRST….fraser we got your back DONT MIND THEM!
THIS CANT HAPPEN NO WHERE ELSE IN THE CARIBBEAN
One thing I like about Fraser is that he is not afraid to tackle the issues that those other cowards afraid to tackle.
I’m tired of all this nonsense. As a Virgin Islander, let me say this: I have a lot of friends who went off to school for nursing and didn’t return.
They decided staying away was more beneficial to them than returning. They Migrated!!!
Shamefully, that is the truth, however, if they decide not to return to the BVI they should pay their own tuition and not seek Government’s assistance in paying for their education costs or their needs to be a stipulation that they serve the country for a number of years before they decide to migrate or have them reimburse the treasury. As nursing is a high need profession for the territory all efforts need to be made to ensure that the BVI tax payer get maximum benefits as most of these nurses would not have had an education had it not been for the BVI government.
AYO CANT INTIMIDATE FRAZER BECAUSE HE IS ACCUSTOMED TO THE HATRED SINCE 1999
Seems like expats don’t like locals, and locals don’t like expats.
Expats call us stupid, uneducated, slow, lazy, say we make weird babies with each other.
I love everyone, but I see a different trend with expats now. They behave like they are from here (I work with a company with 4 locals, about 80 expats).
It’s about time government took a serious look at this issue. I humbly suggest that recruitment talks begin without delay. Please, please compensate our people along the same line as is done for expatriates and more. And, for God in heaven’s name sake, do not say they are from here and they don’t need it! Do not give them unnecessary stress either! Make their transition as smooth as possible.
Charity begins at home. May the Lord’s name be praised!
A native Virgin Islander to the Nth generation
Perhaps the Hon. Mr. Fraser would also like to speak out on the lack of emphasis on education in the Virgin Islands? BVIslanders don’t just magically become registered nurses, they have to study and graduate from nursing school.
If the territory wasn’t so virally xenophobic, someone might sense and opportunity here and start a Caribbean nursing school.
Every govt invest in locals and send them for training. The sad reality is only a handfull making the grade.what does he suggest govt do about that problem instead of making it look like they not hiring locals. I know a local who recently got hired.
What Frazer forgot to mention is that I, and many other of the expat nurses, have lived and worked here for more than 10 years and meet the requirements for Belongership. Even though we are providing an essential service, the BVI is doing everything in can to prevent us getting Belonger Status.
“The hospital has to run, and we have to use the persons who are available to run the hospital,” Wheatley stated.
The most sensible thing any politician has said in HOA in a while. Fraser knows better but loves talking s**t. Many BVIslanders have dual citizenship and therefore have opportunities abroad, that’s life! Why would any BVIslander who is qualified in the health field come to work at the Hospital when they can make 3-5 times more overseas? In addition to that, many of the locals are starting their own practices which is their right as BVIslanders. We want BVIslanders to have rights to everything and then complain when they exercise those rights? If you want more local nurses/doctors, then start the programs from 10th grade in the schools and put real money/support behind it. This small talk is just a waste of everyone’s f**king time!
Ask them about the ratio for the doctors.
Oh so that’s why we cant get the care and affection that we used to get back in the 80’s
True statements, but a lot of people return home after studying abroad and are not given opportunities and they leave, including 3 nurses I know. The applications were not even acknowledged, but people who take six months courses to migrate to the BVI claiming they are nurses are hired over them.
Lol. It need a stop light by the round about now. Too many cars meeting up their at once. I am surprised there are not more accidents there but some drivers drive for others.
1. The education system has to set up so that there are certain number of local nurses sent from the high school to train
2. The scholarship must be established to suit the field
3. The incentive must be there with benifits that is why they are leaving
4. Fraser prefer to have less nursing staff just because they are expatriate? It is the same thing they did in Teaching now the force doing it … That is why there will be shortages. They treat expat so bad soon they would be begging people to come back to fill these position that they are chasing expats from .. it is only a matter of time .
5. Millions spend by Andrew government and where are the trained students poof
They can feel however they want , but they are in our house. If you let someone disrespect you in your own house, that says more about you than them.
How ayo island people could say that Fraser don’t like ayo, when it was he who brought in Digicel, so ayo could afford to call ayo love ones back home?
Them ain’t belong to some place already?
Where else in the World can an Expat enter and tell the Nationals of that Country what to do or what not to do?
I would encourage anyone to do their research and find out how many BVIslanders went abroard on Scholarships for Nursing and Doctors and came back home, sent in their Resumes to BVIHSA only to be thrown in the Garbage Bin and had to migrate to the US to find Employment?
How many BVI Nurses and Doctors are into private practice just because they were denied jobs in the BVIHSA?
Blood is thicker than water.
Fraser FOH, When you get sick is overseas ur a** going…You don’t have to deal with it, we poor people going continue to take the expat nurses, rather than the locals who have took prick you 4-7 times just to draw blood… Fact is, local nurses have little to no study, and the ones who do have sufficient studies go out and keep the brain drain cycle moving
That cant happen Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Santo Domingo nor Dominica AT ALL…ONLY IN THE BVI
Need to and must sew both our butt and mouth holes shut, and practice what we wish for.
Truth is,we do not treat our own well at all.
We oppress them in multitude of ways, the worst of which are: compensation, inummeration and increments payments.
I and hundreds of others like me, and i was not on any government scholarship, came home because we genuinely wanted to contribute to and build our own country and product.
Instead, we came back to a hell hole of oppression, degredation and discimination based solely on horrid internal class values and systems, internal biases, prejudices and, even hatreds for certain people their surnames and relatives, envies and jealousyies…
As a result of those authentic facts, we will never narrow the ratio between local and expat employess in any field, but especially in health, policing and education any time soon…
But, we must begin trying to do better.
The same one who brought in the first traffic lights at treasure isle. Talk all
@Lol
Just so you know that it was a Trinidad Expat consultant that give to advise to put those stop light there and that same Trini expat got another government consultant job at the airport under the NDP Government. I hope you can see the issues and connect the dot.
We could do like with the teachers. Take kids straight out of school, give them a uniform some pills and plasters and call them nurses. If works in schools it can work in hospitals.
@Forgot to Mention
You have a right to citizenship in the country you were born in but it is a PRIVILEGE to become a citizen in another country. You are not entitled to it so stop with the nonsense.
By the way, why some many of you want to be belonged/citizen here? I I recall most Caribbean nationals come from countries that are independent of British rules. Every year you all take great pride in celebrating this and go to extreme length to reminds us dependent one about this. Do you realize you will fall back under the same rules that some of you so hated.
I*I*T…take away the expats in this field and who will treat everyone who gets sick!!! If there were qualified belongers then they would have been there already. Get qualified first!
Check the law when it comes to who would qualify for Belonger Status, then explain to me how you qualify. Do you already have Residency Status?
Whh don’t local nurses remain in the Bvi. Thar is what he should ask. Why dont localdoctors run to private practice.
That’s why I don’t go hospital the front desk have some lions and tigers waiting to grawl at us like they hunger we need friendly people in the front line. Then again when I step into labour I over heard a expact saying that tortola people don’t no nothing now you come in a man’s country behave yourself, humble yourself some expact is very nice and some isn’t, don’t have a problem with individuals coming tola but stop try to disgrace tola people and tola need to stop disgrace expacts as well. I use to work in a restaurant and a expact from jamaica treat me like a slave and I’m a tola belonger. Tola people do have sense, sense to no when individuals is lying you come here say you teachers, pastors, security guard etc. an it’s not true these are just a few things that is happening can’t go uk doing this they will send you right back home on a plane. It have a lot going on in this country but you Mr, wheatley you have to be serious and look into it.
Mr Willock all the way he is a fighter and will get things done!!!
@Down2earth, are you suggesting that locals are on a lower salary scale compared with expats?
It is high time we do away with cheap political grandstanding in our nation. Politicians shouldn’t gaslight expats. This is evil and must stop. many of the expats here are from the Caribbean. They are generations of people who tasted the bitter waters of slavery. By the way, these expats are not robbers. You offered them the job, gave them the work permit and they are here helping to sustain and grow the economy but each time there is a political or administrative issue, we use them as threshing floor for our grains. This constant factor or expat to local ratio has been politically weaponized. First, are there jobless local nurses? The answer is no! Were taxpayers’ resources invested in nursing scholarship programs? The Answer is yes! Then why can’t the trained local nurses return home to work? Answer: The earn more than double or sometimes quadruple of local salary scale. Should they be forced to return home? Answer: No, they are the only invisible exports this territory has. They are repatriating huge savings to the Territory. We are fortunate to have expats accepting the low pay scale. If we insist professional nurses abroad must come home, you will have to pay them adequately and that would eat into your treasury. Fraizer, the gap between what you pay expats and what you would pay locals who are nurses abroad is the milk and honey the territory enjoys. Just look at the Salary scale of Nurses across the sea in St Thomas. You would be shocked. Canada, USA and the entire Europe is sucking professionals like the nurses out of the Caribbean. Very few Caribbean trained nurses pursue their career at home. The same scenario applies in the Virgin Island Police force. I will not be surprised if the police labor turnover rate in BVI is high because the salary scale is very poor even when compared with many Caribbean Islands. Address these issues holistically without using expat/local ratio as a yard stick. Simply make provision for your citizens. What if citizens prefer to read medicine, Pharmacy or other disciplines? You can go to bed once no local willing nd equiped to work is jobless. For now, expats remain an indispensible assets to the territory and they should be celebrated and not hounded
I don’t blame the local nurses from going to America. Look at the shitty conditions they have to work under in a sub par hospital in a third world territory. America value their nurses, the nurses in the BVI makes chicken feed compare to the salary the nurses make in America. If I were a local nurse in the BVI, I would be booking as well.
If only belongers were allowed to work at the hospital it would still be only 2.
Few if any want to train and get experience to return and work here for far less money and poor conditions.
Do you all really understand what’s happening here?
1. Are you aware of the number of persons sent on nursing scholarships but were unable to pass their exams?
2. Are you aware of the number of nurses from the BVI who were sent to study. It did not return
3. Are you aware that we are marketable? We’re her because we want to be.l?
4. Are you aware that within the next 6 – 12 months they will be a serious exodus of healthcare workers from this country?
5. Are you aware that the exodus is happening all over the world but the other countries are training nurses yearly the replace the ones that are leaving?
6. Are you aware that expats are no longer coming to stay here?
7. Are you aware that applications for nursing jobs have n the BVI have decreased by almost 100%?
8. Are you aware that I can go on and on?
Anyone asked the locals if they want to do nursing. Even in a communist state people have a choice. You can try recruiting trainees as you like the problems are far reaching. Low salary. A nurse cannot get a mortgage on the present salaries offered. For a $500, 000 house the Banks tells you must be earning $15,00 monthly. There is no scope here for academic advancements, only friends are given study leave or short courses. There is no scope for upward mobility in the profession here. You have to work 10 to 15years to get a little promotion if you are friendly to MGT. So what is the point of coming back. Just to remain a RN for the rest of your life then after thirty years the HSA gives you $50, 000 and not even a proper goodbye and no monthly pension.
What a great life.
There is much more. You are asked push 12hours shifts. There is no family life. You cannot get vacation at Christmas, August festival of Easter time. Most times even outside of these festive times you cannot get your vacation when you need it because there is no staff to provide coverage.
You lose your good sleep at nights and you might be lucky to get paid for your overtime or call outs.
Not to mention you work constantly in a stressful hazardous environment. Is it worth it. There are so many professions out there that you don’t have to contend with this baggage. That is why the young people are not going into nursing.
no surprize we all kno that your expat hater why is it that everybody wants a piece of the expat , this must be expat season , so we need irma sister ,.
but on a very serious note we have to be very careful on how we go about treating others God is watching and base on our behavior and attitude towards his people we can find ourselfs facing another Irma
Honorable Minister No need to worry. By 2024 the ratio will be 8:51. Yes 8 locals to 51 expatriates. Trust me the nurses are heading where the money matches the stress. So u keep it up. The ratio will soon be almost 50:50. With no increase in locals. So u do the maths.
Yes some expats needs to go . ..BVI needs to to equipt it’s people for these jobs.
Take a horse to the pond
But u can’t force it to drink water can u ???
IF IT ABOUT LOCALS FIRST THEN WHY IS EVERY HARRY, DICK, MARY AND SUE ALLOWED IN THE TERRITORY. THE TERRITORY IS BEING TAKEN OVER BY OUTSIDERS.I DON’T BLAME THE LOCAL NURSES FOR LEAVING THE BVI. BY NOW THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A NURSING SCHOOL IN THE BVI FOR THE LOCALS THEN YOU WILL NOT HAVE THIS PROBLEM. THIS PLACE IS INDEED A DAMN THIRD WORLD SHIT HOLE TERRITORY COVERED IN MAKE UP.
The hospital admin has a responsibility to offer services to the population. Is it more important to have local Nurses than to offer basic health care services? Would you dictate that BVIslanders take up nursing? Most don’t want this grueling work.
The BVI want’s to grow but also wants to remain the same. Although the reality demonstrates that the existing “local” labor pool is insufficient and in some cases inadequate, ppl like Krazer choose to see through one lens,a darkening antiquated lens.
Stop talk nonsense pandering to your base and get water to the third.
Yes. It’s called a brain drain. We underpay- but worse yet, when our kids try to work here, they know that the kind of foolish and even dangerous games set up by our administrators and these ridiculous boards do not serve the patients or the functioning of the hospital.
We can’t keep VI OR expat doctors for a minute longer than their contracts due to the same reasons.
It’s time to enter the 21st century and stop pretending we’re still a tiny community. With an almost half-billion dollar a year budget, these little spite & quibble games in almost every government sector no longer serve the people.
every local i kno or left school weight, that even thought about pursuing health care are practicing in their careers in the US and other countries that pay them what their KNOWLEDGE, TRAINING and EXPERIENCE is worth. Quit with this constantly trying to make something else about expats, put things and opportunities in place for local youth to 1. Pursue proper studies/training, and 2.COMPENSATE THEM PROPERLY when they are done, and im sure they would be happy to fill the spaces. Same with the teachers. DO Better by ur own and u wont have to be always comparing numbers with expats that on most instance are continuing in those same positions taking knock about because those are their circumstances. Its really sickening with this nonsense now!!!!
Agreed. What is stopping locals from becoming Registered Nurses? Oh right….you have to spend many days and nights studying to pass your exams, both practical and theory.