Some nurses working within the four Regional Health Authorities are to ride home in comfort, as The National Health Fund (NHF) has approved a grant of $13 million to purchase four 30-seat buses.

The safety of nursing staff on late shifts has been problematic and the Ministry of Health sought the support of the NHF to acquire these buses in order to transport and thereby improve the safety and well-being of nurses working on these shifts.

Edith Allwood-Anderson, president of the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ), says "Nurses travel at diverse hours of the night getting to and from hospitals and this has been a challenging aspect of the job."

She expressed appreciation to the NHF. "The NAJ is therefore profoundly happy andwe hope the buses will be designated 'The Nurse Bus', to ensure that they will be available to transport nurses when needed and not diverted to other transportation duties in the health system."

Meanwhile, the NHF has approved a grant totalling $11.8 million for the National Council on Drug Abuse to fund the expansion of community clinics and services to meet the need for treatment, care and help for substance abusers and their families.

New clinics

The grant will be used to establish 10 specialised new clinics in selected communities, to teach both life and parenting skills to adolescents and parents, to hold family and group therapy sessions, among other things.

"We are grateful for the opportunity to facilitate a comprehensive approach to treatment and care to individuals and families at the community level. We anticipate far-reaching results and a long-lasting impact from the services that will be offered to members in several communities islandwide," said Michael Tucker, executive director of the National Council on Drug Abuse.

The communities that have been selected have little or no treatment and care facility in proximity or that is affordable to the most vulnerable in the community.