Abuse condemned

Head of Infection Prevention at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) Dr. Corey Forde, has condemned the “disrespect” and “abuse” shown to frontline workers at the Harrison Point Isolation Centre, as they attend to steady increases of COVID-19 cases.

The senior public health official in charge of the St. Lucy facility was responding to a series of complaints levelled particularly by tourists about the services offered at the St Lucy facility.

“People will at times be abusive to them and sometimes they are not nice to them. Sometimes they break the law and record them… and certainly that is a difficult situation to work under and I always tell people, I would never like to be in a position where I ask my staff to do something that I personally would not want to do. I think there needs to be a level of respect certainly by those admitted to the facility and we at all levels of staff in the medical profession in the facility, we deserve that level of respect back in our corner,” Dr. Forde declared.

The most publicised instance of insulting behaviour was in the form of a social media account, which documented the unpleasant experiences of fellow patients and made disparaging comments about staff at the centre and citizens of Barbados in general.

In a Barbados TODAY interview, the American woman behind the ‘harrisonpointbarbados’ Instagram page absolved herself of wrongdoing or guilty feelings after recording patients, beds, food, staff, and entertainment offerings at the facility. In response to criticism from the public, she said the page was intended to document her experience to show friends and fellow holidaymakers what could happen if they tested positive for COVID-19 in Barbados.

Attorney General Dale Marshall meanwhile indicated that persons could not be prosecuted for merely “expressing the view that they don’t like what we offer”.

While acknowledging there is always room for improvement, Dr. Forde, however, noted that local healthcare employees are working tirelessly to ensure, unlike in other countries, that the local outbreaks are kept under control and ought to be honoured regardless of the complaints.

“I think there are many countries which are suffering in this outbreak. The truth is that [overseas] there are hospitals in carparks, there are hospitals in basements and case numbers that have really overrun their health systems,” Dr. Forde noted.

“My staff at the facility is extremely hardworking. They work hard and they work together as a family under difficult circumstances.

“We as physicians, nurses, housekeepers, and orderlies at the facility work as a team and a family. One of the things that we understand in providing a service of care is working with what we have. Despite all the challenges, we will take criticism where criticism is required, but I think it is often important to understand the reality of where the world is at this particular point in time. No place in the world at this point has found itself in a comfortable position. I think we have done quite well. I think we need to be very, very proud of what we have,” he added. (kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)

On Thursday, the infection specialist noted the isolation facility had not yet reached full capacity despite soaring COVID-19 numbers. He however expressed confidence in the proactive planning that resulted in numerous contingency plans like the assembling of a make-shift facility at the Blackman Gollop Primary School.

“We have often preempted these issues. So apart from just looking at the numbers, I think the important question is, does the country have a plan for the increased numbers and with that increase in numbers we were able to put down a facility in 24 hours or less,” he said.

“I think one of the brilliant things that you probably need to focus on a little bit more other than the numbers is the fact that along with the advent of having our numbers increase, we are able to have [staff dispersed] within these facilities, because we train them ahead of time…. The truth is that we can’t anticipate everything, but we must anticipate the obvious in any outbreak,” concluded Dr. Forde. (KS)