A mother is outraged at what she is describing as the “inhumane” treatment meted out to her disabled son when they visited the Randall Phillips Polyclinic in Oistins, Christ Church on February 11.
Lisa Scott, who claims that a security guard at the polyclinic refused access to a chair for her son while he waited outside to be vaccinated at the public polyclinic, told Barbados TODAY that she has made an official complaint to authorities at the facility, and also to her Member of Parliament.
Scott is adamant that there is no place for such inexcusable disrespect and ill-treatment of the disabled especially in this country’s healthcare system and she wants the officials at the polyclinic to point this out to their support staff.
“Not to do so would condone such behaviour, and send the very unfortunate message that discrimination is acceptable. It is not and never will be. The behaviour of this security guard was ridiculous and is just a piece of what disabled persons go through in Barbados every day. It was disrespectful and showed a lack of empathy because all I was asking for was a chair,” Scott said.
The mother explained that she arrived at the polyclinic around 12:45 with her son so he could receive the vaccine as scheduled. She said before making her way to the polyclinic, she called ahead to ensure that the vaccine was still being administered and was told that to take the child to his appointment.
She said when they arrived she told the female Ministry of Health security guard why they were there.
“While we waited on the outside, she checked inside and came back and told us that the only nurse who was administering the vaccine was at lunch. She then advised that we had to continue to wait outside until the nurse returned and was ready for us. I asked her if she knew how long the wait would be and she indicated that she did not. I said okay,” Scott said.
“However, upon noticing that there was no appropriate place for him to sit while we waited, I asked this same guard if I could get a chair for my son. The only other chair was occupied by a lady with a baby. She said no. I tried to explain to her that he has a disability [Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy) and would be unable to climb the embankment without me lifting him up to reach the bench where I was directed to take him,” she added.
Scott said the guard curtly replied that she did not want to hear her reason for needing the chair and reiterated that not only was she not going to provide her with a chair but demanded that we “move from in front of her” so she would deal with the person behind.
The mother said she saw dozens of chairs stacked up right next to the guard. She however eventually got a seat when the lady holding the baby got up.
Nevertheless, Scott declared that the insensitive and discriminatory actions of the security guard, were regrettable and should never recur. She said, at the very minimum, persons whose jobs require that they interact with the infirmed, sick, and elderly should be empathetic.
“The fact that she was dismissive of his plight and refused to make any attempt to accommodate a reasonable request for assistance is ableist (disparaging of people with disabilities) and falls into the category of discrimination. It is my hope that some sensitivity training is provided to this guard, in particular, but to all those Government employees who might have to interact with persons with disabilities (PWDs). This Disability Sensitivity Training is offered by the Barbados Council for the Disabled and its aim is to sensitize service providers to the needs of PWDs,” she said.
“People park daily in the disabled area and you could see that they really do not care. All we are asking people for is to put yourself in other people’s shoes. I am sure that if she was to be sick she would not want to be treated like that. And the fact is she works somewhere where sick people come on a daily basis,” Scott added.
Barbados TODAY’s efforts to contact officials at the Randall Phillips Polyclinic, to comment on the matter proved futile.
However, when contacted, Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George said he was unaware of Scott’s allegations, but gave the assurance that he would look into the matter.
Scott shared with Barbados TODAY that she received a correspondence from the People Resourcing and Compliance Directorate in the Ministry of Public Service, informing her that her complaint has been submitted to the Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, and also the Ministry of Health for follow-up actions.
“You will be provided with an update on the matter as soon as practicable,” the correspondence read.
(anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)
