MINISTER for Health and Medical Services Rosy Akbar admitted in Parliament yesterday that there was a major issue in employing midwives at the Makoi Maternity Unit.
This was after Opposition MP Salote Radrodro questioned the minister on the delay in opening the facility for delivery of pregnant mothers.
“What is the issue with the Makoi Maternity Unit? Is it the funding that is why it’s not open for delivery for mothers or is it because of the skills and staffing in regards to midwives,” she said.
Ms Akabr said the ministry was able to finalise the recruitment of midwives and was anticipating running on a 24-hour service from the normal 12-hour service.
“We have finalised the recruitment of the midwives that was a major issue and we anticipate running it 24 hours in the very near future,” Ms Akbar said.
The Makoi Maternity Unit was built with an investment of $6.83 million from the Government earlier this year.
The heath facility was built so that expectant mothers would no longer have to travel to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva to get basic medical services.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services has been allocated $334.9m in the 2018-2019 National Budget announced last month by Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.