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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

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Nurses stage sick-out By JUAN MCCARTNEY ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ juan@nasguard.com: More than 130 nurses employed by the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) in New Providence and Grand Bahama called in sick yesterday, forcing the PHA to shut down three government clinics and cancel all elective surgeries at the Princess Margaret and Rand Memorial hospitals until further notice, according to PHA Managing Director Herbert Brown. In addition, the Ministry of Health said in a statement that about 50 percent of New Providence- based nursing staff in public heath clinics participated in the industrial action. Some Family Island nurses employed by the ministry also failed to show up for work. The PHA and the ministry employ separate groups of nurses who are members of the Bahamas Nurses Union. Union President Cleola Hamilton said that nurses were "just not feeling very well because of how they are being treated" by the government, and that yesterday's actions were 'step one' in a plan that will escalate if the government does not give them greater assurances that they will receive their salary increases and health insurance benefits legally agreed to in their latest industrial contract. In his 2009/2010 Budget Communication in the House of Assembly on May 27, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced that a health insurance benefit provided for in the nurses union contract, totaling $10.5 million, will have to be delayed because the government cannot afford it at this time. Shortly after Ingraham's presentation, Hamilton told The Nassau Guardian that the nurses union had had discussions with the government and had been assured that nurses will get the compensation owed them once the economy rebounds, after having agreed to defer a four percent salary increase and a new health insurance plan. But yesterday, Hamilton expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the government's proposal. "At that time there was some stuff that we wanted to do, but [when] we heard the prime minister said 'we are not doing it for nurses, but we are increasing it for the police', then the whole thing changed," she said. "We did speak with [Minister of Health Dr. Hubert Minnis], and we had quite a discussion and we said to him 'sir, you need to take that to the nurses, because you can't expect us to take that what you're saying to the nurses,' which he did but it wasn't properly received from him because we feel that we were wronged." Hamilton also said the nurses are willing to do what is necessary to get what is due them. "Nurses are prepared to fight. We have fought before and we will fight again. We are prepared to fight for what we feel is [equitable] and fair," Hamilton said during a press conference at the nurses union's office. "We have some other steps to go and if they don't want this to be elevated the way we have it planned, they better come to the table and say some stuff." In a statement released yesterday, Brown said that nurses at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre (SRC) in New Providence and the Rand Memorial Hospital (RMH) in Freeport, Grand Bahama, "phoned in and or submitted sick certificates for the 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift." Brown said 83 nurses phoned in sick at the PMH, 10 nurses reported sick at the Rand, and 37 nurses reported sick at the SRC. He added that services at the Accident & Emergency departments at PMH and the Rand will be the most greatly affected. Brown further noted patients scheduled for surgical procedures should phone their physician, and in addition, the surgical, medical and pediatric specialty clinics will be closed until further notice. However, he said the specialty clinics in Grand Bahama will remain open. "Patients should only come to the hospitals for medical emergencies," he explained. "The PHA would wish to apologize to members of the public for this inconvenience. We wish to assure the public, however, that we will do everything within our resources to provide medical care for those in need." Hamilton said the nurses feel as if they are on the "bottom of the ladder" when it comes to the public service and are "not as essential" to the smooth running of the government as others. "Let the essential servants who they value so much go to Princess Margaret Hospital and take care of the patients...let them go to the hospital and the clinics that we are finding out are all closed," she said. Hamilton added that nurses "are not feeling very happy" because the government has "honored everybody in the public service's industrial agreement," but left nurses out. She said the government is telling nurses that the economy might not rebound until 2012. Hamilton added that the government should be reminded that this coincides with the next general election. "You can't tell us we must sit around and wait until 2012 to have something that we should have had in 2008 - that's four years later," said Hamilton, adding that any reasonable person would become irate having to wait that long. "We know that it is not fair what they are doing to nurses, and we know exactly how to get their attention." Hamilton said the nurses would have felt more comfortable had the government given them some form of written guarantee that they will receive the insurance benefit at a later date. "If at some point in time they had said 'look, things are bad and hold on for a while with the agreement that is coming up' [it would have been different]," she said. "But you're going to tell us to forego both of them? The government is supposed to set standards for the private sector. If this is the standard that the government is setting for the private sector then our country is doomed. The government is supposed to set the standard and the standard that they are setting with us is not very good." Brown said that patients with medical emergencies may contact 326-7014, 502-7812 or 919 in New Providence and 352-6735 ext. 2154 or 352 2689 in Grand Bahama. In its statement, the Ministry of Health assured that every effort is being made to ensure that essential health care services are minimally disrupted. The ministry requested the public's cooperation in ensuring that patients come to public clinics for medical emergencies only. Tuesday, June 9, 2009