00:00We will have these very lofty and expensive $1.3 billion hospitals in Cuva, in 0.14.
00:09Every hospital is one point something.
00:12But let me tell the national public, every single one of those facilities would be operating
00:19below capacity.
00:21The association president believes these facilities will be operating with unsafe staffing levels,
00:28he says.
00:29Brick and mortar cannot deliver care.
00:32And while the membership is thankful for the new central block, it is the nurses who do
00:37the work, Stuart tells us.
00:39This has been an issue they have lobbied government for for a long time to no avail, he says.
00:46No one wants to address the patient to staff ratio issue.
00:51We are going to place those nursing personnel in an environment where one nurse will have
00:57to see about 10, 12, 13, 14 patients.
01:00How is that possible?
01:01How can you get quality health care in an environment like that?
01:07It is impossible.
01:08Further, he notes that the Pan American Health Organization pointed out some issues in the
01:14local health care system.
01:15Last power report into the deaths of the eight babies at Portisfield General Hospital, NICU,
01:23so ironic, the very same Portisfield General Hospital, identified the shortcomings of the
01:30health care system.
01:31So if PAHO, international experts, not me, but international experts, could have identified
01:37so many shortcomings, including shortage of nursing, shortage of nursing staff, that tells
01:44you there's no way you can provide quality health care.
01:50The state also gave kudos to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on standing up against threats
01:55to revoke visas to persons in countries that bring in Cuban medical personnel.
02:01We rely on our Cuban counterparts to supplement our health care system.
02:07So we have to be cautious.
02:10We know the environment we operate, this global environment, but we would want to thank the
02:15government, the minister, prime minister for standing up for our country.
02:19And if it means, if the only repercussion means some ministers will lose their visas,
02:25then so be it.
02:26If that is the only fallout, we would be.
02:28But we cannot further deplete our health care system in Trinidad and Tobago.
02:34The prime minister said this country relies a lot for our health delivery on certain specialists
02:41who over the decades have obtained from India, from the Philippines, sometimes from Africa
02:47and mainly from Cuba.
02:49He further stated that he will ensure that the sovereignty of Trinidad and Tobago is
02:54known to its people and respected by all.
02:59Nicole M Romany, TV6 News.
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