QEH dismisses crisis claims, says nursing levels strong

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ueen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) on Thursday pushed back strongly against claims of chronic understaffing, unsafe conditions and a looming healthcare collapse, calling the narrative “unrecognisable” and asserting that “a lot of good work” is underway to strengthen nursing at the island’s main medical facility.

QEH chief executive Neil Clark told journalists in a media briefing he was compelled to respond to an article that painted a bleak picture of the national healthcare system.

“I wanted to clarify what was in the press this morning that I’ve seen and read,” he said. “It talked about unsafe working conditions, which can always be improved. But it didn’t talk about the work we’re doing to improve that. It talked about high levels of migration of nurses to overseas, which I don’t recognise. Our turnover rate is very low. And it talked about the risk of the collapse within our healthcare system, which I don’t recognise.”

Clark acknowledged that improvements could always be made but insisted that nursing staff levels were within acceptable and even commendable ranges compared with international standards.

“We have data on how many nurses we’ve got on each ward and every day, how many are deployed, looking after the patients. And we have a nurse staff ratio. And on that ratio, the numbers I see can be as low as one to five. That’s what we’re aiming for, which is better than what you’d get in the UK, where the minimum ratio is one to eight. So our nurse staff ratios are generally good.”

The QEH chief also stressed that management is actively exploring better ways to support nurses in delivering high-quality clinical care.

“One of the things we’ve been working on recently is what support do the nurses get on the wards? And how can we make sure that the nurses are doing the clinical functions that they’ve been trained to do…? Maybe they need additional support on the wards. And that’s what we’re exploring now-the role of the nurse, the role of the health aide, the role of the ward manager.”

Clark also refuted claims of a mass exodus of nursing staff, although he acknowledged that some level of movement was inevitable-and even welcomed.

“I’m not aware of high levels of migration of nurses leaving. Of course, people will leave and that’s natural. And I hope they do leave, get great experiences, and then come back to Barbados with that experience at a later time.

“They’ll come back later in their careers, and they’ll become much more experienced nurses, because they’ve seen how it works in different places,” he said.

Director of Nursing Services Henderson Pinder, who was quoted in the article, said his comments had been misinterpreted. He said the moderate migration being seen was not cause for alarm but did present challenges, particularly when highly skilled personnel leave.

“Yes, we have been seeing the exodus of nurses,” Pinder said. “I think my actual words were moderate levels of nurses leaving the island. The number of persons who are leaving might not be great numbers, but… there are more skilled workers. And when we have that brain drain… it presents a problem in terms of reinvesting in individuals and having those service gaps filled.”

He disclosed that the QEH had received government approval for 142 new nursing posts, with 71 already cleared for this year.

“We have fought vigorously to ensure that we have the number of nurses we need to maintain an adequate patient-staff ratio. To do that, we’ve approached the government on a number of occasions…. We now have to find nurses to fill those spots. And we will continue to recruit with recruitment drives locally and internationally.”

Pinder added that environmental concerns at the hospital were being addressed through a capital expenditure (capex) allowance that was recently granted: “We’ve gotten an increase in our budget and a capex allowance that would allow us to address many of the environmental concerns that plague the hospital.”

The QEH is also working closely with the Ministry of Health on a new national nursing strategy, with a formal ten-year plan set to be unveiled in the coming days.

“We’re going to have some stakeholder meetings… BCC, hospital, Ministry of Health, PAHO and others — to see what measures we can put in place to mitigate some of the challenges and problems we foresee with the nursing profession,” Pinder said. “That strategy… is going to be a document that is going to be published. So every person in the island would have an opportunity to read the nursing policy for the next ten years.”

Clark reiterated his belief that the health system is on a solid path.

“I do not see a major nursing catastrophe waiting around the corner for us. And I didn’t want the public to be thinking that. There’s a lot of good work going on. We have strong nursing levels here…. So… it’s not doom and gloom,” he said.

“We’re spending the taxpayers’ money and we have to offer value for money…. It helps us understand how efficient we are, how well we’re doing, and where we can make further improvements.”

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb