NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (September 22, 2020) — Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis and Minister of Finance in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) says the administration is awaiting the go-ahead from the Public Service Commission to implement salary adjustments for nurses on the island.

The Premier who is also the Minister of Health, gave an update on the ongoing process of regularizing the nurses’ salaries in response to a question during his monthly press conference at Pinney’s Estate on September 22, 2020.

“We have promised an increase to our nurses. All that needed to be done on our part has been done. The only thing that now needs to happen is that the Public Service Commission has to sign off on it.

“The Public Service Commission meets once per month and it is a very involved process,” he said.

Mr. Brantley informed that the matter will go before the Public Service Commission for final consideration at its monthly meeting in September.

“Once that is done the pay will be retroactive to June 01, 2020, so the nurses are not going to lose out.

“That is what we had committed to and that is what we’ll honour. So we hope that by next month [October] we will have it all sorted and the nurses would be the beneficiaries of this long promised increase,” he assured.

Premier Brantley had explained previously that there had been some compensation disparities regarding the type of qualifications nurses held – years of service versus formal education, and also for retired nurses who had to be brought back into the work force to help alleviate the shortage of nurses on Nevis.

He took the opportunity to once again commend frontline workers, including nurses, for their national contribution, particularly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Frontline workers work hard, for long hours, deserving of every penny that they earn, are not generally people who are highly paid, and I pay homage and salute them,” he said.