Manus Island: Australian medical staff to be replaced with local workers
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Version 0 of 1. Some Australian doctors and nurses at the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea are to be replaced with local and Filipino staff, as asylum seekers continue to complain of poor medical treatment. A Manus source with an intimate working knowledge of healthcare provision at the detention centre said all Australian nurses other than supervisors would be replaced by PNG staff, and questioned the ability of local nurses to perform in those circumstances. A small number of PNG nurses had been employed at the centre since it opened, but from two months ago more were taken on to replace Australian nurses. About a dozen general nurses work in the centre. “There’s a very big difference in the standard of PNG nurses,” the source said. “Some are fine, but some look like they’ll never make it.” Australian medical staff on Nauru will also be replaced with local staff, but no Australian mental health care staff will lose their jobs in either location, it is understood. Guardian Australia has received further images of asylum seekers inside the Manus detention centre from a man who was detained there before returning voluntarily to his country of origin. The man says he is in constant contact with asylum seekers still on Manus Island and has heard numerous complaints of poor medical care in the centre. One photograph purportedly shows an asylum seeker, “Majid”, with severe facial deformities, said to be causing itching and scarring, as a result of previous surgery. Majid said cream to treat the ailment was confiscated on arrival at Christmas Island and never replaced. The man who provided the photographs said there are other asylum seekers on Manus Island with heart conditions that are not being treated. “There is a lot of medication that’s needed that simply isn’t there,” the Manus source with knowledge of healthcare provision said. The source said general cleanliness remained a significant factor in the spread of disease throughout the facility. In one compound, Oscar, which holds hundreds of asylum seekers, there are just two washing machines, which have never been cleaned, the source said. A spokeswoman for International Health and Medical Services (IHMS), the private medical provider working at Manus and Nauru detention centres, said the mix of medical staff at the centres was continually under review. “All health professionals working with us must meet our professional requirements, be registered with the health registration board in their home country and meet the registration requirements of the country where they will be working,” the spokeswoman said. At present, she said, Australian staff made up a “significant proportion of the team”. “There is no change to the standard of health services, which are broadly comparable with that available within the Australian community and best available in the circumstances, taking into account the particular health needs of transferees. The commission of audit report published this month recommended the level of services inside immigration detention centres be reviewed. On Sunday Fairfax Media revealed that no full-time psychiatrist is employed at the Manus Island centre, despite the high level of mental illness there. |