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The GCC region's healthcare sector growth prospects could be impacted by a shortage of nursing skills, according to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, one of the world's leading international medical schools.
"The region's healthcare sector is growing rapidly but this growth could be affected by the lack of trained nurses from national populations," said Kevin O'Malley, president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bahrain).
"Governments are successfully implementing strategies to invest in and develop their national medical infrastructure to serve the region's growing population, as well as a means of attracting foreign investment. However, the success of these strategies in delivering qualified nationals to practice medicine will be challenged as long as the region faces a shortage of nursing skills.
"The importance of nursing for the healthcare sector is often over-looked but without a constant supply of qualified nursing personnel to support patient care and the work of healthcare teams, the potential growth rate of the sector will be held back."
Organisations like RCSI are helping to tackle the shortage of nursing professionals in the region by opening up institutions across the Middle East. RCSI currently has a postgraduate facility in Dubai Health City which has 130 students enrolled on two masters programmes. They also opened a new state-of-the-art campus in Bahrain early this year.
Batool Al Mohandis, head of the School of Nursing & Midwifery, RCSI Bahrain, added: "From our own experience, we have seen rapid growth in the numbers of students attending our teaching institutions in the region, but, growth rates in student admissions from national populations for nursing have not been matched by those for surgery, radiology, dentistry, pharmacy and physiotherapy.
"Based on the latest research, Dubai has an average of 29.1 nurses per 10,000 of population. In comparison, countries such as Norway and Finland have 100 nurses per 10,000 of population. To ensure the sector can meet the needs of Dubai and the GCC's as a whole, both from an economic and a patient care perspective, more nationals need to study nursing as a career."
RCSI's views come as the region's healthcare industry continues to expand at a rapid pace, driven by the investments being made by governments to create private markets of healthcare provision as they move from being providers of healthcare to regulators.
The healthcare market in Dubai alone is set to grow by 14 per cent over the next five years, with $2 billion being spent on overseas healthcare services every year. The growth of the market place is being driven by population growth, with regional states having witnessed tenfold increases in populations since the 1970s.
The GCC's population is currently around 40 million and this is estimated to double by 2025. Additional factors such as the growth of healthcare tourism in the region and healthcare being used as a means of attracting foreign investment are also contributing to the growth of the regional market.
RCSI has operated within the Middle East for more than 25 years and currently provides medical expertise on a contractual basis to health ministries in Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. RCSI has been offering courses in healthcare management, basic surgical training and running surgical postgraduate examinations in Bahrain at the Medical University of Bahrain since 2004.
In response to the shortage of nursing skills in Bahrain, RCSI established a school of nursing & midwifery in 2006. In Kuwait RCSI is currently running postgraduate courses and examinations in dentistry and radiology. While in Jordan the college has been running courses and examinations in dentistry and surgery for over 10 years.
As part of its strategy to meet the growing needs of Bahrain's healthcare market, RCSI Bahrain has partnered with Tamkeen, Bahrain's labour fund, which currently provides funding for 60 nursing places per year.
