There is absolutely no need for a children's hospital. So says president of the Trinidad and Tobago Registered Nurses' Association Idi Stuart, who is calling on the government to see to nurses' salaries, terms and conditions, before spending millions on the Couva hospital. Rynessa Cutting has more.
00:00THE PRIME MINISTER'S ANNOUNCEMENT THAT HER GOVERNMENT INTENDS TO OPERATIONALIZE THE COUVA CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL IS NOT SITTING WELL WITH THE NURSES' ASSOCIATION.
00:10NONE OF THE CURRENT FACILITIES THAT CHILDREN ARE HOUSING, IT'S ERIC WILLIAMS MEDICAL FACILITY WITH THE WENDY FITZ WILLIAMS HOSPITAL AND THE SAN FERNANDO FACILITY OR IN TOBAGO, NONE OF THESE FACILITIES ARE EVER OVERFLOWING.
00:30IT IS NOT A CASE WHERE PATIENTS, CHILDREN CANNOT GET BEDS. IT'S NEVER A CASE WHERE THOSE FACILITIES ARE EVEN OPERATING AT 80%. SO RARLY AND TRULY THERE'S NO NEED.
00:46ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT EDDIE STEWART SAYS AT THIS TIME, THE PUBLIC SECTOR IS SHORT OF ROUGHLY 1,000 NURSES.
00:53THERE'S ONLY ABOUT 100 NURSES AVAILABLE, PROBABLY LESS THAN THAT, AVAILABLE TO BE HIRED. SO EVEN IF WE HIRED THOSE 100 NURSES, WE STILL WOULD HAVE A DEFICIT OF 900-PLUS NURSES.
01:07THIRDLY, WE HAVE A FURTHER SHORTAGE OF SPECIALIST NURSES. AND FOR YOU TO RUN A CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, YOU'RE DEFINITELY GOING TO NEED NEONATAL TRAIN NURSES.
01:17YOU'RE GOING TO NEED PEDIATRIC NURSES. CURRENTLY, THE FOCUS OF THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE TO ENSURE THE TRAINED NURSING SCHOOLS THAT CURRENTLY EXISTS, THAT DO NOT CURRENTLY TRAIN PEDIATRIC AND NEONATAL NURSES, GET THEM TO TRAIN THOSE NURSES. AND THAT WILL TAKE TWO TO THREE YEARS.
01:35STUART SAYS, DUE TO THE SEVERE SHORTAGE, NURSES ARE MANDATED TO WORK OVER TIME, FOR WHICH THEY ARE NOT PAID, BUT ARE GIVEN TIME BACK, WHICH DOES NOT MATERIALIZE.
01:47CURRENTLY, ONLY ONE OF THE RHAs, SOUTHWEST REGIONAL HEALTH AUTHORITY, WHO PAYS NURSES SOMETIMES OVER TIME, FOR THE HOURS THEY WORK. EVERYBODY ELSE DOES NOT PAY NURSES.
02:02ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, STUART SAYS, THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD FOCUS ON BETTERING NURSES' TERMS AND CONDITIONS, AS THEY ARE STILL ON TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT AND 2013 SALARIES.
02:13BEFORE YOU GO TO STOP AND SCRAP THE REVIDUAL AUTHORITY, BEFORE YOU DO ALL OF THESE THINGS THAT WILL INCREASE EXPENDITURE AND LOWER INCOME, PLEASE, PLEASE, WE BEG OF YOU, SETTLE WAGE NEGOTIATIONS FOR NURSING AND NURSING AND NURSING PERSONALS.
02:31THE ASSOCIATION HAS REACHED OUT TO THE NEWLY INSTALLED HEALTH MINISTER DR. LAKRAM BODO REQUESTING A MEETING.
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