CHENNAI: Western Australia is looking at establishing a relationship and partnership with Tamil Nadu to train and upskill nurses and other staff and medical students, said Amber Jade Sanderson, Minister for Health, Western Australia.

The Australian minister, who was in Chennai on Friday, said this after visiting the Madras Medical College and Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. The minister also met Health Minister Ma Subramanian and senior officials from the Health Department, including Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi.

The team that the minister led visited the intensive care unit and transplant unit at the hospital. Appreciating the health infrastructure of the State, she said that there was abundant opportunity for health professionals from West Australia to come to Tamil Nadu and practise. “In West Australia, we only have 2.6 million people, which limits the range of practice for them when compared to Tamil Nadu,” she said.

The minister also lauded the doctors at the government hospitals in the city for their dedication to the patients. “We would love to send the staff and students to Tamil Nadu and would invite students from here to Western Australia. It would be a great opportunity for the students from the State to experience our lifestyle and medical infrastructure. We have a letter of intent between Western Australia and Tamil Nadu government.”

Earlier this year, other ministers from Western Australia had also visited the State, recalled the minister, adding that there was a possibility of signing memoranda of understanding for mutual benefit.