Way has been cleared for non-nationals to practice medicine in Guyana

The passage of the Medical Practitioners Amendment Bill has cleared the way for non-nationals to practice medicine in Guyana after the second reading in the National Assembly recently. The National Assembly was told by Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony that the amendment removes the criteria where one has to be a citizen or married to a citizen to be considered for proper registration in Guyana.

“By removing that, we are opening up the country to a pool of expertise that is urgently needed if we are going to continue with the transformation of the healthcare sector,” Dr. Anthony said. The minister pointed out that Guyana is undergoing a rapid transformation in the health sector, and our mission is to create a world-class health care service for all citizens to enjoy the best medical care.

He stressed that there is also an expectation that persons living in the diaspora will want to return home, or even non-citizens, for medical care. “To train a doctor takes quite a long time, and to train a specialist, even longer time, so the amendment that we have for the medical practitioners’ bill, allows for us to change the existing law, non-nationals to allow for coming into Guyana, and practice medicine and to be registered by the medical council,” Dr. Anthony stressed.

Minister Anthony noted that the amendment was made in the interest of accelerating the pace of development in the health sector.According to Dr. Anthony, “the transformation has already started with significant investment in the hospital infrastructure and equipment”.

“…And so in the next few years, we will see this infrastructure transformed, but one of our challenges would be with human resources, and while attempts have been made to increase training, to expand our training programme, it would still take a few years for us to complete this process and to have all the staff that is necessary,” Dr Anthony said.  

It was revealed by the ‘Explanatory Memorandum’ the Medical Practitioners Act, currently sets out five requirements for persons applying to the medical council wishing to be registered as a medical practitioner.

It was pointed out that the first requirement is that the person must be a citizen of Guyana, a resident of Guyana, or a CARICOM national. It went on to state that Clause 2 of the Bill seeks to remove this requirement of registration for persons who want to be registered to practice medicine or surgery in Guyana.

“We are transforming how we do health in Guyana, and with that transformation we need every health care professional to up their skills, up their game in this particular direction, because some of the things that we are accustomed to do in the traditional way, with the use of technology, we will have to change how we do some of these things,” the minister added.

Turning of the sod

Meanwhile, it was noted that a series of turning the sod for the construction of at least six new regional hospitals will begin soon. It was disclosed that the health facilities will have a minimum of about 75 inpatient beds, two operating theatres, a modern accident, and emergency unit and a new outpatient facility, among other features.

Additionally, a sod-turning ceremony was recently held for the construction of a €149M specialised Pediatric and Maternal Hospital, along the East Coast Demerara (ECD) corridor.