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Ministry acts after Nurses protest
TANEISHA LEWIS, Observer staff reporter
Friday, July 13, 2007
The scene outside the Kingston Public Hospital yesterday morning after nurses there protested to highlight a shortage of basic supplies. (Photo: Michael Gordon)
HEALTH ministry officials yesterday scurried to avert a crisis in the health sector after nurses at the Kingston Public and Victoria Jubilee hospitals walked off the job in protest over what they said was a severe shortage of medical supplies.
By late afternoon both hospitals were provided with basic supplies, following a four-hour meeting with representatives of the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) and health ministry officials, led by permanent secretary Grace Allen-Young.
The supplies included soap, hand towels, tissue, bleach and syringes of all sizes, NAJ president Edith Allwood-Anderson told the Observer. Other key supplies like oxygen masks from Health Corporation Limited were expected last night.
At the same time, Allwood-Anderson said the nurses should be informed today how early they will be able to receive additional supplies, including suction machines, ventilators and ambu bags.
Allwood-Anderson told the Observer that nurses decided to stage a public protest after repeated concerns about the critical shortage of medical supplies were not addressed by the health ministry.
"Two months ago, the Kingston Public Hospital nurses and Victoria Jubilee nurses recognised that it was not an ordinary situation in terms of shortage anymore," said Allwood-Anderson. "It had become more or less a crisis, so they wrote a letter to the CEO, sending him a priority list of all the things that must be sorted out."
However, she said, nothing was done, and at an emergency meeting Wednesday the nurses decided to make their concerns public after they realised that all of the stock, including emergency supplies, were exhausted.
"We informed the ministry, but we did not get a favourable response, so this morning (yesterday) a meeting was convened with the nurses during which we asked that the CEO and the nursing directors sit in to hear what was happening," said the NAJ president. "The nurses had reach the point where they were breaking down emotionally and they said that patients' lives were at risk."
Last night, the health ministry said it was committed to immediately sourcing some of the critical medical supplies needed "to fill the existing gap".
According to a ministry statement, from time to time hospitals would experience shortages, but it was incumbent that this information be communicated to the relevant persons before it reaches critical level for the supplies to be replenished. The ministry said the allocation of drugs and medical supplies to public hospitals was increased from $450 million last year to $981 million this year.
Last night, the Opposition spokesman on health, Dr Kenneth Baugh, slammed the Government for allowing the situation to escalate to an "untenable proportion".
Baugh claimed that doctors have been complaining about cancellations or postponement of surgical cases over the past three to four months due to the shortage of sutures in some large hospitals.
"The system has broken down as Health Corporation Limited, which purchases drugs and sundries for the medical services, is now crippled by mounting debt to overseas manufacturers and suppliers due to the fact that the hospital regions have not been able to pay for past supplies," Baugh said.
The situation in some hospitals, he added, has been so severe that doctors have been forced to write prescriptions for relatives of in-patients so that they can purchase medical sundries outside the hospital.
This is the second time in a month that the health sector has been affected by industrial action. Late last month, medical technologists stayed off the job for three consecutive days following the failure of the Government to implement an Industrial Dispute Tribunal-ordered reclassification.
TANEISHA LEWIS, Observer staff reporter
Friday, July 13, 2007
The scene outside the Kingston Public Hospital yesterday morning after nurses there protested to highlight a shortage of basic supplies. (Photo: Michael Gordon)
HEALTH ministry officials yesterday scurried to avert a crisis in the health sector after nurses at the Kingston Public and Victoria Jubilee hospitals walked off the job in protest over what they said was a severe shortage of medical supplies.
By late afternoon both hospitals were provided with basic supplies, following a four-hour meeting with representatives of the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) and health ministry officials, led by permanent secretary Grace Allen-Young.
The supplies included soap, hand towels, tissue, bleach and syringes of all sizes, NAJ president Edith Allwood-Anderson told the Observer. Other key supplies like oxygen masks from Health Corporation Limited were expected last night.
At the same time, Allwood-Anderson said the nurses should be informed today how early they will be able to receive additional supplies, including suction machines, ventilators and ambu bags.
Allwood-Anderson told the Observer that nurses decided to stage a public protest after repeated concerns about the critical shortage of medical supplies were not addressed by the health ministry.
"Two months ago, the Kingston Public Hospital nurses and Victoria Jubilee nurses recognised that it was not an ordinary situation in terms of shortage anymore," said Allwood-Anderson. "It had become more or less a crisis, so they wrote a letter to the CEO, sending him a priority list of all the things that must be sorted out."
However, she said, nothing was done, and at an emergency meeting Wednesday the nurses decided to make their concerns public after they realised that all of the stock, including emergency supplies, were exhausted.
"We informed the ministry, but we did not get a favourable response, so this morning (yesterday) a meeting was convened with the nurses during which we asked that the CEO and the nursing directors sit in to hear what was happening," said the NAJ president. "The nurses had reach the point where they were breaking down emotionally and they said that patients' lives were at risk."
Last night, the health ministry said it was committed to immediately sourcing some of the critical medical supplies needed "to fill the existing gap".
According to a ministry statement, from time to time hospitals would experience shortages, but it was incumbent that this information be communicated to the relevant persons before it reaches critical level for the supplies to be replenished. The ministry said the allocation of drugs and medical supplies to public hospitals was increased from $450 million last year to $981 million this year.
Last night, the Opposition spokesman on health, Dr Kenneth Baugh, slammed the Government for allowing the situation to escalate to an "untenable proportion".
Baugh claimed that doctors have been complaining about cancellations or postponement of surgical cases over the past three to four months due to the shortage of sutures in some large hospitals.
"The system has broken down as Health Corporation Limited, which purchases drugs and sundries for the medical services, is now crippled by mounting debt to overseas manufacturers and suppliers due to the fact that the hospital regions have not been able to pay for past supplies," Baugh said.
The situation in some hospitals, he added, has been so severe that doctors have been forced to write prescriptions for relatives of in-patients so that they can purchase medical sundries outside the hospital.
This is the second time in a month that the health sector has been affected by industrial action. Late last month, medical technologists stayed off the job for three consecutive days following the failure of the Government to implement an Industrial Dispute Tribunal-ordered reclassification.
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