Strike bites at QEH weekend care

The more than five-week strike action by nurses represented by the Unity Workers Union (UWU) is about to intensify with a planned march this week.

This announcement from union leader Caswell Franklyn comes days after allied nurses at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) reportedly did not report for work. Barbados TODAY was informed that this action of solidarity affected several wards at the island’s lone tertiary healthcare facility. According to a source, who asked not to be named, wards B6 and B7, A1 and A2 were most affected having onl  a skeleton staff available on the obstetrics block. “For the whole weekend A&E [Accident and Emergency] was in potta and Psychi was in a mess too,” the source said.

Executive Chairman of the QEH Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland, told Barbados TODAY that she was reluctant to get into the ongoing conflict between the UWU and the Ministry of Health but acknowledged they were short of nurses this past weekend. She was unable to confirm if this shortage was as a result of the strike action or what she believed was the normal absenteeism rate during the holiday season.

“The nursing staff on hand work really hard and we deployed an all-hands-on deck approach to ensure our patients remained safe. We borrowed staff from HP [Harrison Point] and Sunbay to meet the needs of QEH patients. A number of staff are due back from leave this week which should alleviate the situation. The dedicated staff worked extra hours to serve the needs of Barbados. I move around the hospital to let the staff know that they are appreciated,” Bynoe-Sutherland said.

“We are doing the best we can at the QEH to maintain patient safety and ensure our patients are cared for. When strike action is taken the only people that suffer are patients so we are monitoring the situation very closely to ensure that we protect the public of Barbados,” she added.

However, a nurse maintained that in her more than a decade in nursing, she was sure there was nothing “normal” about the shortages reported this weekend.

“We ain’t want to got the place in a mess. . . we really want to get back to work, we just want what is ours – simple,” she lamented.

Franklyn agreed while reiterating those matters which they were championing on the behalf of all nurses, among them the 170 in his membership. These included: better working conditions, health insurance; better nurse-to-patient ratios, remuneration for degrees, advancement and continuous training and better pay.

As it relates to this week’s planned march, the outspoken trade unionist said it will be dependent on the head of the COVID Monitoring Unit.

He said: “Because of the pandemic we have to get permission from them, unions don’t need permission from anyone else. Under normal circumstances unions just march. Of course, we would inform the Commissioner of Police rather than asking for permission because the commissioner under the Public Order Act is required to give permission to people who want to march but no such permission is required for unions. So, we will inform him when we are ready and then go from there.”

Franklyn expressed his willingness to continue discussions with the director general of the Public Service Gail Atkins to remedy the nurses’ grouses for Barbados’ benefit, but he claimed that this desire has not been reciprocated by the other end.

“We have not seen her [director general] in any negotiations recently. We have seen politicians usurping her role and taking over what she should be doing. . . . She has a job to do and she must do it. Let’s say the government changes would you expect a new prime minister to jump in the things? No! What happens is the public service is permanent and they are supposed to be dealing with these issues. Politicians get involved with these because they can’t help themselves and they take over the role of the civil servant and they are not doing theirs. She is the person I contacted to inform about the strike action. She is the person authorised and whose job it is to deal with industrial relations in the public service, not the prime minister, not Bostic. And somehow these civil servants are so afraid of the politicians that they sit back and let the politicians deal with their matters,” Franklyn said. (KC)