The T&T Registered Nurses Association is questioning the government's reason for extending hours at various Health Centres, which commences on Tuesday.
The Association is further objecting to the situation where only one Registered Nurse will be on duty. But the Health Minister says, it is something that will be monitored.
00:00With financial constraints being stated by some of the regional health authorities in relation to making a number of their staff permanent,
00:08President of the TNT Registered Nurses Association, Eddie Stewart, believes priorities are being mixed up.
00:13He points to the extended operating hours at some health centers.
00:17Which will incur costs and redirect the limited resources that they are claiming.
00:24And we are not denying that this claim exists, but you are going to redirect funds to engage in activities that are not priority at this moment,
00:35thereby reducing the funds available to make your outstanding commitment.
00:42He's calling for those commitments to nurses and midwives to be honored before any more spending is done.
00:48Stewart states that the extension of the hours has been tried before and failed for a number of reasons, including staff shortage.
00:56It's that they are requiring one nurse to work. One nurse to work. One district health visitor.
01:03That is a no-no in medical circles. That is a no-no.
01:07You are placing that nurse license at risk by expecting that nurse to work alone.
01:13That is something we detest. We tell every nurse in Toronto, do not place yourself in an environment where you are working alone.
01:21Stewart says there are several legal issues surrounding that, which the association has had to deal with in the court time and time again.
01:28And the RHS know this. So we can't understand why there's not a CEO, man enough, woman enough, to tell the minister or whoever is trying to implement this,
01:39this may not be a good idea, minister. Let's retract this and hold back this.
01:44All it's going to do is increase spending because you're going to have to pay the doctor, you're going to have to pay the nurse,
01:48you're going to have to pay the medical records, what have you.
01:51For this and that, he states, based on past attempts, statistically and systematically, there is no need for it.
01:58It's about four or five persons coming to the health center.
02:01And in any event, what they come to the health center for, you have to redirect them to the accidental emergency department or one of the other 24-hour facilities.
02:11Well, in response to TV6 over the concerns raised by Stewart, Health Minister Dr. Lacron-Bodo says,
02:17The proposed staffing model of one registered nurse and one enrolled nursing assistant at select health centers for the initial phase allows the RHAs to manage resources and assess patient traffic.
02:31Dr. Bodo tells us adjustments can be made as necessary based on the demand at each location.
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