Medical Superintendent at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital Dr Luke Nasedra says there is no comparison in terms of what nurses can earn abroad compared with what they get in Fiji, but there are ways the Health Ministry can address the issue.

Responding to queries from members of the media during a health tour on Wednesday, he said the ministry could provide attractive remuneration packages to retain nurses.

“That is something the hospital needs to discuss with the health ministry about how we can properly remunerate the nurses,” Dr Nasedra said.

He said they were closely monitoring the ratio of staff members to services being provided in the hospital.

“We are looking at the migration of nurses from the health services while looking through the delivery of services we currently have.

“We have not had much of a big impact to tell us we do need to cut back. So we have not reached that stage.”

When asked if nurses were getting over time pay for working 12-hour shifts, Dr Nasedra said the nurses were paid for working overtime and were also entitled to allowances.

• Questions sent to former health minister Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete yesterday remained unanswered when this edition went to press.