Satisfied for now

UWU accepts assurances of solutions to environmental issues at St Philip Polyclinic

By Anesta Henry

Following an almost two-hour meeting with officials of the Ministry of Health and Wellness to discuss environmental issues plaguing the St Philip Polyclinic, the union representing most of the nurses there is satisfied with promises of immediate and long-term solutions to be implemented.

General Secretary of the Unity Workers’ Union (UWU) Caswell Franklyn said on Friday that several commitments were made and decisions taken to remedy the situation during the talks at the Ministry in Culloden Road, St Michael, which was attended by the UWU, Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Health and Wellness Wayne Marshall, workers from the polyclinic, and several other stakeholders attended the meeting.

“We have come up with a way forward. They say that they will do some rehabilitative work over the weekend, on Monday and Tuesday, and on Wednesday, the union will inspect the property with the nurses to see if they are satisfied with what they did,” Franklyn told Barbados TODAY.

The assurances came as the Six Roads, St Philip facility was closed for the day after staff walked off the job the day before to protest what they said were hazardous working conditions.

“Obviously, from when I saw it on Wednesday, I wouldn’t advise anybody to work there. But I have dealt with the PS before, and he is a reasonable fellow, so I don’t foresee any problems,” Franklyn said.

Nurses and other staff at the St Philip Polyclinic were off the job from around 10 a.m. on Thursday, complaining about fungus on walls, hot rooms, and the “pooling of water”, among other issues.

In a press release issued on Friday, the Ministry of Health and Wellness said that the polyclinic would be closed on Friday to address the environmental issues there.

It explained that some of the environmental concerns stemmed from construction work which was being undertaken to improve service delivery to the public over the last four months.

“Construction on the clinic was paused but working conditions further deteriorated. The Ministry remains committed to having this matter resolved in the shortest period of time,” it said, advising of the meeting with the union later in the day, to “brief them on the current situation and establish the way forward towards a resolution”.

“A contractor has been identified to resume the construction at the facility. The public will be informed when the polyclinic will reopen, as work will start this weekend,” the statement added.

During an interview with Barbados TODAY, Dr Kenneth George said the health ministry had not forgotten the issues at the St Philip Polyclinic and intended to resolve the matters systematically.

“Several members of staff have communicated their unwillingness to work at the St Philip Polyclinic due to several environmental issues. The Ministry of Health is aware and has been having these issues resolved. We had indicated that there were several upgrades that were required at the polyclinic, and those commenced about four months ago,” Dr George said.

“However, because of some personnel changes within the Ministry of Health, the construction was stopped, and we have onboard a new Senior Technical Officer who is working through the issues,” he added.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb