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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

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Nurses sick-out worsens By JUAN MCCARTNEY ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ juan@nasguard.com: Health care workers in public hospitals and clinics throughout the country struggled to meet patients' needs for the second day in a row yesterday as a sick-out being conducted by the Bahamas Nurses Union (BNU) escalated. The nurses are protesting the government's decision to put off their health insurance benefit in the upcoming fiscal year because it is cash-strapped. Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) Managing Director Herbert Brown said 149 nurses employed in public hospitals called in sick yesterday; 130 PHA nurses called in sick on Monday, according to Brown. This is in addition to some of the nurses employed by the Ministry of Health who called in sick. BNU President Cleola Hamilton told The Nassau Guardian yesterday that she is sure the government is "understanding what the value of nurses are up to this point." "One of the things that I am observing is what limit the government will go to [until it will] compromise the health of the nation," she said. "It's not really the nurses; it's the government. So a good thing for you to do would be to call them and ask them to what limit they intend to go to [until it will] compromise the health of the nation. That would be a good question for them." When asked how long the sick-out would continue, Hamilton said, "It's all up to the government." "I am home in my bed, not feeling very well, and I'm sure most of the nurses are feeling the same way," she said yesterday morning. Minister of Health Dr. Hubert Minnis did not return messages left for him up to press time, and Brown said that he had "received no word from policymakers regarding this matter." Ministers were in their weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday. Minnis is expected to deliver his contribution to the 2009/2010 budget debate in the House of Assembly today. It is unclear if he will address the matter of the sick-out at that time. Brown said that 25 nurses called in sick at Rand Memorial Hospital in Grand Bahama yesterday. At Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) on New Providence, 74 nurses called in yesterday, said Brown, adding that at the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre 50 nurses called in sick. The surgical, pediatric and medical clinics at Princess Margaret Hospital also remained closed for a second consecutive day as hospital administrators again stressed that the hospital could only facilitate those people with genuine medical emergencies. Brown said the PHA will do its best to assist patients if the sick-out continues. "We will continue to provide the services that we can with the resources that are available to us," he said. On Monday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement that about 50 percent of New Providence-based nursing staff in public heath clinics participated in the industrial action. Some Family Island nurses employed by the ministry also failed to show up for work. The PHA and the ministry employ separate groups of nurses who are members of the Bahamas Nurses Union. On Monday, Hamilton said that nurses were "just not feeling very well because of how they are being treated" by the government, and their actions were 'step one' in a plan that will escalate if the government does not give them greater assurances that they will receive their salary increases and health insurance benefits legally agreed to in their latest industrial contract. In his 2009/2010 Budget Communication in the House of Assembly on May 27, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced that a health insurance benefit provided for in the nurses union contract, totaling $10.5 million, will have to be delayed because the government cannot afford it at this time. He also said they will have to go without expected pay increases. Prime Minister Ingraham said in the House of Assembly on Monday that the last thing in the world he wanted to do was not pay nurses and doctors their increases and not provide nurses with their health insurance. "It was only in the last and final consideration of the budget [that] we knew we could not find the extra $10 million; we could not unless we made some other choices. So I instructed the minister of education and the minister of health to meet with their agencies in advance of the Wednesday budget presentation." Hamilton said Monday the government is telling nurses that the economy might not rebound until 2012. She added that the government should be reminded that this coincides with the next general election. "You can't tell us we must sit around and wait until 2012 to have something that we should have had in 2008 — that's four years later," said Hamilton, adding that any reasonable person would become irate having to wait that long. "We know that it is not fair what they are doing to nurses, and we know exactly how to get their attention." Hamilton said the nurses would have felt more comfortable had the government given them some form of written guarantee that they will receive the insurance benefit at a later date. The government has not said exactly when it expects the health insurance and salary increases to kick in. Wednesday, June 10, 2009