There is an admission the pool of available nurses locally is not sufficient to give Trinidad and Tobago an acceptable level of nurse to patient ratio which varies between regional health authorities.
This is being attributed to the pull from the United States and other countries showing interest in recruiting local nurses.
However, steps are being taken to address this development.
Chief Executive Officer of the North West Regional Health Authority, Anthony Blake, made this known during an inquiry held by the Joint Select Committee on Social Services and Public Administration Wednesday.
The JSC inquired into Trinidad and Tobago’s response to the prevalence of Non-communicable diseases.
Specific focus was placed on Diabetes, Cardiological Diseases and Cancer.
Some of the measures being taken include working with the Ministry of Health and the International Desk in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the recruitment of foreign nurses and focusing more on education and retraining of local nurses.
Emphasis is also being placed on addressing challenges relating to equipment in the public health care system in areas such as maintenance and the availability of square parts by manufacturers.