5 more nursing training schools to come up soon

Kolkata: The state government is setting up five more nursing training schools, said Chandrima Bhattacharya, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare.

"These are at the advanced stages of construction. As many as 365 nursing seats have been added and 960 more are expected to be added this year," she said while addressing a large assembly of hospital CEOs, doctors, nurses and other healthcare support staff at the second Nursing Conclave organised by the CII on Friday.

"In Bengal, we will have 39 General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) schools with an intake capacity of 2175, 10 government nursing colleges, five government Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM) training schools. Currently, the state has a sanctioned strength of 45,014 nursing personnel under WBGS/WBNS cadre out of which 38,347 are in position," Bhattacharya said, adding that 1355 medical seats have been increased to 2900 and 3000 doctors and 6100 nurses employed.

She said the state government has also taken unprecedented initiative to set up Skill Laboratories at the College of Nursing/Nursing Training School for improvement of skills of in-service nursing personnel working at maternal and newborn care service areas with the objective of reducing maternal and infant mortality. As many as 20 skill laboratories have been set up at a cost of Rs 15 crore. No such skill laboratories existed before 2011.

Bhattacharya maintained that under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, the state government has set a vision to provide affordable, accessible, sustainable, high-quality healthcare for all. With the Chief Minister herself helming the Health ministry, the state government accords highest priority to healthcare.

Bhattacharya expressed happiness at the CII-GTA Multi Skill Development Centre set up by the CII in partnership with the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) in Darjeeling. "The first batch of training in General Duty Assistance (GDA) is expected to commence towards the end of this month besides training in other sectors, she said. Bruce Bucknell, British Deputy High Commissioner, Kolkata, said: "If doctors are the Gods of hospitals, nurses are the angels, the ones who bring the care and the support — a vital part of delivering frontline compassionate care to patients."