A member of the trade union movement will now sit on the board of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), as the state-owned tertiary healthcare facility adds two additional members.
This was revealed by Minister of Health and Wellness Ian Gooding-Edghill on Tuesday as he spoke to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Amendment) Bill 2022 in the House of Assembly where he announced that provisions are now made for the board to move from 13 to 15 persons. The Bill was passed.
Gooding-Edghill said the Government felt it necessary to have a representative from the Congress of Trade Union and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) on the board to give advice and guidance relating to the hospital’s management of industrial relations.
“If you go back you would note that the composition has 13 members and there were specific disciplines referenced in the Act when it was amended by the former administration. And a glaring omission there had to deal with the fact that even though there was a representative of human resources and industrial relations, it did not speak specifically to a labour representative.
“This Bill now seeks to do so Mr Speaker and in addition to that, giving labour a voice on the board of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH). I would want in the interest of transparency to say that there was a representative on the board but not in the name of a labour organisation,” he said.
The minister said the Ministry of Health continues to deal with matters relating to the QEH through the board. He reiterated that the Government was looking at a five-year capital expenditure programme for the QEH, while seeking to improve patient experience.
“These things will take time. In the case of the capital expenditure programme, that will be done on a yearly basis. And then in respect of the patient experience, that will continue to be a work in progress because that is not something that we can fix overnight.
“We are clearly also working with our health partners to ensure we get all the knowledge and the technical expertise required to help us in managing the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), and that too continues to be a work in progress. But I believe that once we continue our dialogue, meeting with our stakeholders and all other parties, that we will for sure see a continued improvement of this island’s lone teaching hospital,” Gooding-Edghill said.
Minister in the Ministry of Health with day-to-day responsibility for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and for Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases Dr Sonia Browne, who applauded the previous QEH board, indicated that the appointment of a union member to the board would be timely considering that there are several labour-related changes that will be taking place at the institution.
Dr Browne said QEH had fallen from its position as the number one healthcare facility in the Eastern Caribbean, and in order for it to rise again, the board must address certain issues including staffing levels, delays within A&E, the outpatients’ clinics and the need for new equipment. Dr Browne acknowledged that the QEH plant is old, and she made an appeal to the diaspora to make donations to the facility.
General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) and Member of Parliament for St George North Toni Moore said she is pleased that the adjustment has been made to the QEH Act to have a labour representative. However, Moore warned that the move does not mean that all industrial relations issues at the QEH will be settled without cause for industrial action, or that there will also be agreement amongst stakeholders involved.
“This morning before making this intervention, there were a number of IR [industrial relations] issues that have been brought to my attention, wearing another hat. I am sure that if we have active participation at the board level to address IR issues, things like health and safety issues that impact workers in a health facility can certainly be avoided. I think that the board representatives who have already been ratified will be treating to some of these issues a bit later on in the day,” Moore said. (AH)
