President of the National Nurses Association, Idi Stuart is issuing a stark warning tonight. He says the association is being punished for speaking out about what he describes as a worsening crisis in the public healthcare system. According to Stuart, official data from the Ministry of Health and the regional health authorities confirm that the system is short by more than three thousand nurses, a shortage he believes is now placing both patients and frontline staff at risk.
00:00The National Nurses Association tells the TV6 Morning Edition that after reviewing official data from the Ministry of Health and the Regional Health Authorities, it calculates a nurse shortfall of approximately 3,000.
00:15However, President Edie Stewart notes that the Minister of Health has publicly stated that the shortage is closer to 1,830, while the Chairman of the North Central Regional Health Authority has gone further, denying that a shortage exists at all.
00:33Stewart warns that continuing to operate with such limited resources will have serious consequences for both patient care and frontline staff.
00:43He adds that repeated requests for a meeting with the government to discuss the situation have been rejected.
00:51And it's perceived that we are speaking out against the government.
00:56And that is shocking, that is frightening.
00:59And to date, true to form, despite a hearing that the Minister of Housing said he refutes that, to date we still have not been granted a meeting.
01:09A meeting that we have been asking for months now.
01:12So it appears that we will be penalized for speaking out.
01:17Stewart says the Association emailed the Minister and copied the Prime Minister on that correspondence, but they are yet to receive a response.
01:26He says he does not believe the Prime Minister is aware of what is happening, nor that she would condone such action,
01:32especially since several unions are aligned with the government.
01:36The Association head also reiterates his caution against proceeding with construction of the Coover Children's Hospital at this time,
01:45insisting that the nursing shortage is far more severe than is being presented to the public.
01:52They want to do something because they could probably boast and in the next five years we have opened the Coover Children's Hospital and whatnot.
02:01But on the underside, what the public is not seeing is that every single citizen will be negatively affected to achieve that grandiose plan.
02:12Stewart warns that the Association is ready to take the fight to the courts if necessary.
02:18We are being victimized for speaking out.
02:21So it is getting worse and we are preparing to take the largest legal action against a board of directors.
02:31If this continues, we really hope it doesn't continue.
02:36For the deaths that occur within the NCRHC, we want to take the largest ever lawsuit.
02:42Whether we win or not is not the issue.
02:45We want them to stand up in court and defend the actions that they are doing.
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