Ghanaian nurses at QEH by month-end

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is to have 63 nurses from Ghana by month-end, Executive Director Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland disclosed this evening.

The top executive of the lone state hospital made the announcement as she appeared as part of the Ministry of Health and Wellness team before lawmakers during House of Assembly hearings on the 2020-2021 appropriations.

Bynoe-Sutherland said: “During this month we will see 63 nurses arriving from Ghana.

“Another 29 Barbadian nurses have been hired between the start of 2019 and present including 16 who have applied from the Barbados Community College (BCC).

“The Government and hospital have invested in strengthening the number of nurses that are available at the QEH.”

She also revealed that an additional 16 beds will be available in ward B8 by the end of March. But she admitted that without an increase in nurses the beds would lie idle.

The QEH chief executive said: “We realise that having an increase number of beds require us to have an increase number of nurses.

“This is perhaps one of the greatest challenges that has confronted the Queen Elizabeth Hospital because we are not able to open all of our beds within the Medical Intensive Care Units and across the Cardiac Catheterisation Suite and other areas of the hospital.”

In addition to the nurses the institution is currently recruiting for the post of Bed Controller, she added.

Bynoe-Sutherland told the hearing: “We also realise that bed management at the hospital has to be improved.

“We are currently recruiting a Bed Controller to look at how we can use beds more efficiently and have beds ready and available for patients so they can be more efficient movement from the A&E into beds which can be a challenge within the hospital.”

The QEH boss thanked the Ministry of Education for working with BCC in order to find a solution to the challenge which some nurses were facing with securing a passing grade in the regional nursing exam.

She said: “We are very appreciative of the Ministry of Education and the Barbados Community College for being able to address the challenge that we were faced with getting nurses to pass the examination.

“We were able to take most of the nurses who have applied to us in that programme.

“We also recognised that some of the nurses who have had challenges passing the nursing exam are nurses who are in need of mentoring and support and we have included positions of graduate nurses within the hospital complement to be able to give them the necessary training and investment.”