Nurses From Ghana To Relieve Shortage Of Nurses In Bahamas

NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC) – Eighteen specialty nurses from Ghana are scheduled to arrive in The Bahamas by the end of October to help relieve a shortage of nurses.

According to Health Minister Dr Michael Darville said 18 specialty Ghanaian nurses will arrive in the Bahamas to help#

“I would like to see them in the country before the end of the month,” said Health Minister Dr Michael Darville who was speaking on the sidelines of the Ministry of Health’s Leadership Forum’s opening ceremony on Friday.

“I believe we will be able to accomplish that so that we can fill a lot of gaps of specialty nurses that exist at the Princess Margaret Hospital and some at the Rand Memorial Hospital.

“And to be able to improve the delivery of quality services that we want to provide at our hospitals and take a lot of burdens from a lot of our specialty nurses who are working a lot of overtime and we don’t want them to burn out. So we look forward to these nurses to come to the country.”

There has been continuing nurses shortages in the country with many frontline workers continuously complaining of exhaustion – both physically and mentally.

According to Darville the Ghanaian nurses, will help in the fight to provide quality service in the country.

“I want the Bahamian people to know that while we are recruiting, developed countries are recruiting in our country and it’s a burden that we currently face on a daily basis.

“We’re not alone in the Caribbean, other Caribbean colleagues and ministers of health are constantly presenting this issue of excessive recruitment in the Caribbean and the Bahamas is no exception.

“But for us at the Ministry of Health and Wellness, it is our responsibility to do all that we need to ensure that these services are provided in the country and that requires going outside and recruiting from abroad.

“So, we look forward to the nurses coming from Ghana into the country to help us to deliver quality health care services, not only in Grand Bahama and New Providence, but throughout the country.”

Last month, Public Hospital Authority Managing Director Aubynette Rolle said that officials were making various attempts to address the nursing shortage in the country.

She noted that in addition to Ghana, the government is expecting nurses from the Philippines and possibly India

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Naturally pained by last week’s stunning developments in the case of his missing 10-month-old daughter Sarayah and her mother, Toshyna Patterson, parliamentarian Phillip Paulwell on Saturday said his heart is heavy with sadness and expressed hope that the individuals now charged with their kidnapping and murder be “punished to the fullest extent of the law”.

“The past few weeks have been extremely difficult for me as I grappled with the abduction of my daughter and her mother,” the Member of Parliament for Kingston East and Port Royal said in a statement.

“I am heartbroken that the worst has happened,” he said, adding that he had “prayed unceasingly” for their safe return.

Last Friday, Leoda Bradshaw, a US Navy petty officer with whom Paulwell sired a now eight-year-old child, appeared in the Supreme Court after being charged with two counts of conspiracy to kidnap, two counts of conspiracy to murder, two counts of kidnapping, and two counts of capital murder.

PAULWELL… I am heartbroken that the worst has happened
According to the Crown, Bradshaw, after learning about the existence of Paulwell’s 10-month-old daughter on September 5, 2023, contacted Patterson on Facebook and informed her that she was Paulwell’s spouse and advised Patterson that a DNA test should be done to determine the paternity of the child.

After that brief exchange Patterson blocked Bradshaw from her account, the prosecution said, adding that Bradshaw, who lives overseas, travelled to Jamaica the very next day, September 6, 2023 “for the sole purpose of killing Toshyna Patterson and the young child she shared with her spouse”.

The Crown also alleged that Bradshaw, through her cousin and co-accused Roland Balfour, contracted men to kidnap and murder Patterson and Sarayah.

Balfour has been charged with two counts of accessory before the fact to kidnapping and two counts of accessory before the fact to murder.

In the meantime, two other men — Roshane Miller and Richard Brown — are to appear before the court later this month in relation to charges against them in the matter.

Brown has been charged with two counts of conspiracy to murder, two counts of conspiracy to kidnap, two counts of kidnapping, and two counts of murder. Miller, a 29-year-old air conditioning technician, has been charged with two counts of accessory before the fact to kidnapping, and two counts of accessory before the fact to murder.

According to prosecutors, Bradshaw met with Miller and Brown to arrange for the kidnappings and murders. The original plan was to kidnap Patterson and the baby from their home. Bradshaw, prosecutors told the court, paid the men the equivalent of J$100,000 in United States currency as downpayment for the execution of the crime. The remainder of the funds ($400,000) was to be paid after the completion of the deal.

Prosecutors said that on Saturday, September 9, Bradshaw “placed several calls and conversed with Patterson, with a view to lure her away from her premises”.

She afterwards arrived at Patterson’s home at approximately 7:00 am that day.

“Evidentiary material shows Patterson exiting her premises and entering an SUV parked at her gate, along with her baby. Evidentiary material shows that she remained in this vehicle for over 15 minutes. The vehicle then drove off and left the area approximately 7:22 am. Patterson and Sarayah never exited the vehicle prior to its leaving,” the prosecutor told presiding Supreme Court judge, Justice Simone Wolfe-Reece on Friday.

The Crown’s case is that Bradshaw took Patterson to Stony Hill in the vicinity of the home where she, Bradshaw, was staying, handed over Patterson and her young child to Brown and other individuals who are yet to be apprehended. “After this, Patterson and her young child were taken to Warieka Hills where they were shot and killed and their bodies burned,” the court was told.

In his statement on Saturday, Paulwell said nothing could have prepared him for the events that unfolded since last week Thursday.

“That anyone could murder a mother and an innocent baby is unimaginable, and my heart is heavy with sadness,” he said. “I am praying for Toshyna’s family, who I know are experiencing the unbearable grief and pain of losing their beloved daughter and granddaughter. As a human being, father, lawyer, and legislator I am hoping that all who were involved are brought to justice and punished to the fullest extent of the law.”

The legislator said he has been in constant dialogue with the police and has cooperated fully with the investigation.

“I cannot comment on the investigations nor matters before the court, but I wish to thank the police for their tireless work,” he said, and expressed gratitude to the “many Jamaicans” who have been generous in their prayers as well as their “kind and thoughtful expressions of love, support, and solidarity” for him and his family.