Tufton outlines wider overseas hiring push as health teams plug gaps left by departing workers

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has framed Jamaica’s response to severe clinical staffing gaps as a wider push to hire labour from abroad, with Cabinet approval already in place for a dedicated recruitment unit inside the ministry.

Speaking in an interview, he said figures gathered before a recent recall stood at about 278 affected workers. Forty-two chose not to return, he said, and are now on individual contracts within the system. The remainder were offered letters inviting them to re-engage on the same contractual basis if they wished; he reported an open invitation on record and indications that some may come back, with the ministry ready to engage them.

Tufton added that some people here on work permits, including cases of five years or longer, have asked about permanent status, which he said the law can allow after residence for a defined period. Applications and stated interest would guide how those cases are handled.

He stressed that the human-resources remit now reaches past one bilateral lane. During a state visit, he said, Jamaica signed a memorandum of understanding with India’s foreign-affairs leadership to cooperate on health human resources, covering possible rotation of clinicians to shore up short-staffed areas plus exchanges and training, though he cautioned that many administrative steps remain.

Separately, representatives of India’s Apollo Health System met him last week, he said, and talks continue toward an agreement that could support running new public hospitals planned for western Jamaica and possibly Portland. He also cited an MOU with Ghana, a possible Ghana leg around upcoming World Health Organization meetings, and ongoing conversation with Nigeria as further examples of the broader sourcing strategy he said cabinet had endorsed.

On the legacy arrangement often tied to Cuban clinicians, Tufton said the former programme structure no longer applies and has expired, with current links limited to direct contracts with interested professionals. Because most of those clinicians had left, he said, activity at St Joseph’s had to slow; of eighteen who remained there, six stayed and others signalled interest while screening continued. To keep services viable, he said, operations for St Joseph’s and Kingston Public Hospital were combined, with clinicians split across both sites, producing longer waits than before.

He acknowledged shortages in radiology and oncology support after two clinicians had covered St Joseph’s and Montego Bay, and said recruitment is under way. In the interim, existing staff are covering extended sessions and extra shifts, which he called unsustainable. He expressed hope that deepening ties with India and other partners would ease pressure over time.