12 Jun 2018

Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Alfred Madigele  says government intends to roll out Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in addition to the centers in Gaborone, Lobatse, Palapye, Mahalapye, Selebi Phikwe, Francistown, Maun and Kasane in order to absorb the unemployed trained EMS workers.

Answering a question in Parliament on Monday, Dr Madigele said currently his Ministry was putting in place structures and processes to facilitate employment of EMS personnel such as the Job effectiveness.

He said descriptions for all levels of EMS workers had been submitted to the Directorate of Public Service Management and the National Emergency Medical Services Policy draft was in place to facilitate roll out of emergency medical services.

Additionally, Dr Madigele said the primary workplace for paramedics was in the Emergency Medical Services and not hospitals or clinics and thus, a total of three paramedics, eight advanced emergency medical technicians and 60 basic emergency medical technicians were on full time employment as professional EMS personnel.

Member of Parliament for Ramotswa, Mr Samuel Rantuana had asked the minister to state the number of paramedics employed in government hospitals and clinics and the number of Batswana on full time employment at these institutions.

He also enquired on what government intended to do with the unemployed given the shortage of skilled emergency response in medical institutions. Ends