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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

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Hubert Minnis: Sick-out has public health care system in crisis By JUAN MCCARTNEY ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ juan@nasguard.com: By Minister of Health Dr. Hubert Minnis' own admission in the House of Assembly yesterday, the sick-out being conducted by members of the Bahamas Nurses Union (BNU), fighting for benefits the government has refused to give them, has put the public health care system in the country in crisis. But BNU President Cleola Hamilton said nothing Minnis says in Parliament will change the union's course, if he does not sit down with its executives and give them some concrete assurances as to when nurses will receive their benefits. In the House on Wednesday, Minnis retired nurses, volunteer doctors and ancillary and administrative staff have been picking up the mantle at the public hospitals in the absence of a full complement of nurses. The sick-out is not expected to end anytime soon. Hamilton acknowledged that the nurses met Tuesday night and decided the sick-out will continue for the foreseeable future. "It was the general consensus of the nurses to do whatever it takes to at least feel that we are a part of the essential servants in the country, according to our government," she said. "I have not been in contact with the minister of Health. [None] of my executive board have tried to contact Dr. Minnis and there has been no dialogue between the union and the government." Hundreds of BNU members have called in sick for work since Monday, because they are upset over the fact that the government has said it will not implement the group insurance plan that it had promised in the upcoming budget because it is strapped for cash. The government has also told nurses it cannot afford to give them the four percent salary increase their agreement calls for at this time either. On the floor of the House yesterday, Minnis said the government has been doing the best it can in the face of the staffing shortage and will try to work things out with the nurses. "As I stand here I can say that at this time, while our economy is down, we are prepared to ensure that nurses are treated in the most comfortable environment and that we will address the insurance they ask for and that they so desire," Minnis said. On Wednesday, Hamilton said that the union is not moved by speeches and wants to sit down and talk with the government. "It doesn't depend on any budget debate, it depends on mutual respect and honor and it depends on the fact that the government needs to understand that we are professionals and they need to treat us in a professional and a respectful manner," he said. During his budget presentation, Minnis said the 2006 industrial agreement that promised the insurance plan and pay increases for nurses, has a clause which would allow the government to defer those benefits if both the parties mutually agree that extenuating circumstances - like an economic downturn - occurred. Minnis also said that the government met with nurses before Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham's 2009/2010 Budget Communication was delivered last month, and in lieu of the insurance and pay increase, offered to provide private hospital rooms for nurses who are treated at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH). "What I was prepared to offer was to renovate wards within (PMH) so that they would have three private rooms with bathroom facilities and all the amenities so that they would be treated with respect," he said. "I know that at this time our economy can't afford (the insurance) but tomorrow things may change and at that time things could be given." Minnis said that although the union has accused the Ingraham administration of giving them nothing, the previous two Ingraham administrations were very good for the profession. "[A staff nurse's] salary today at the upper scale is $30,000 and we did nothing?" Minnis asked, speaking about pay increases nurses received from 1993 to 2003. "These increases apply to all nurses. If you look at the trained clinical nurse they would have moved from $10,900 in January 1992 to $21,900 and we did nothing? The principal nursing officer would have moved from a low of $27,500 to a high of $44,400 but yet we did nothing?" Hamilton has repeatedly said that she is only concerned about what the government has done with regard to the current industrial agreement, which according to her has not been enough. Wednesday's sick-out was a major blow to public hospitals, though Public Hospitals Authority Managing Director Herbert Brown said it was not as bad as the previous two days. Brown said that about 100 nurses called in sick at PMH and at the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre, but nearly all nurses scheduled to work at the Rand Memorial Hospital and all public health clinics on Grand Bahama showed up as scheduled. Thursday, June 11, 2009