61% of government nurses in Bahrain are citizens: Health Ministry

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahraini citizens are increasingly showing off their skills in the nursing profession and the latest data speaks of the great Bahrainisation success in the field.

Speaking at the Parliament yesterday, Health Minister Faeqa Al Saleh revealed that there are currently 2,945 qualified nurses working in the hospitals and health centres affiliated to the Ministry of Health and among them, 1,807 are Bahrainis (1,138 non-Bahrainis) with Bahrainisation standing at 61 per cent.

According to the minister, 3,599 Bahraini medical professionals are working with the Ministry of Health compared to 1,399 expatriates, which highlights a key milestone of 72 per cent Bahrainisation.

“Bahrainisation is one of the highest at 90.2pc (1,012 Bahrainis and 109 expatriates) among the support staff at the Health Ministry,” the minister said in her response to a question raised by lawmaker Isa Al Dosari.

She said the ministry altogether employed 6,119 individuals including doctors, dentists, nurses, physiotherapists, support staff and service staff.

The figures revealed by the minister showed that 385 consultant physicians functioned on the Health Ministry payroll, and, of whom 363 are Bahrainis along with 22 non-Bahrainis (Bahrainisation 94pc).

Among the total number of physicians (602), 493 are Bahraini doctors and 109 non-Bahrainis (Bahrainisation 82pc).

As for dentists, there are 63 Bahrainis and only seven non-Bahrainis.

The ministry employs 276 pharmacists, comprising 262 Bahrainis and 14 non-Bahrainis (Bahrainisation 95pc).

The Bahrainisation rate reached 100pc in several specialities, including nutrition, neurology, psychotherapy and audiology.

And among the jobs category, 100pc Bahrainisation has been achieved among resident doctors, senior resident doctors, resident dentists, senior resident dentists, practical nurses and medical services assistants.

As of now, Bahrain has a large number of Bahrainis working for the three stages of healthcare delivery within the system maintained by the Health Ministry, namely; primary, secondary and tertiary.

Thanks to the ministry’s efforts in discovering and retaining talents, Bahrain has advanced and comprehensive healthcare systems in the region, employing both skilled Bahrainis and expatriates.

Bahrain has a unique governance model headed by the Supreme Council of Health to set the national strategy and directions, the National Health Regulatory Authority as a regulator of the health sector, and the Ministry of Health as key operators to manage the health sector.