Government through the Ministry of Health, said it will soon recruit new nurses to work in all government hospitals in order to achieve the recommended nurse to patient ratio in Malawi.Spokesperson in the Ministry of Health, Adrian Chikumbe, confirmed this in an interview this week. In the interview, he revealed that the recommended nurse-patient ratio by the International Council of Nurses is 1 nurse to six patients. He however, said due to various reasons, Malawi has failed to reach the recommendation.
For example, he said in 2015 the Malawi ratio was one nurse to 80 patient, which was abnormal.
“As government, we are making strides to make sure that the doctor patient ratio is achieved and we will also recruit 600 nurses to be in line with the number of nurses to patients,” said Chikumbe.
Chikumbe admitted that achieving the recommended nurse to patient ratio, is still a challenge but government will make sure that the number of nurses is increased.
He also revealed that the Ministry of Health has not fired the health personnel who were involved in drug theft, claiming “they are still under investigation.”
According to Chikumbe, some of the health personnel are waiting to appear in court.