Senator Worrell of DLP Raises Concerns Over Health Care Crisis at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Calls for Improved Management and Nurse Allocation

Senator Andre Worrell, the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) spokesperson for health, has described the health care situation at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) as a “nightmare”.

“I have heard the complaints of people. The QEH is almost a nightmare for you to go to. Many people fear having to spend a night or a weekend in the QEH waiting for treatment. Many people have died waiting for treatment.

“You have nurses who have been trained who have not yet had the opportunity to work in Barbados as nurses because of an exam which other nurses come to Barbados and they are not required to take, but our nurses have the training from the Barbados Community College (BCC) and we have a shortage of nurses in Barbados. Why not give these people an opportunity to practice what they learned at BCC and assist in the nurse shortage in the health care sector?”

Worrell was speaking recently during the press conference held by Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne at the Hincks Street office in The City.

He highlighted understaffing issues in different departments, doctors and nurses leaving and the loss of investment of “millions of dollars in terms of training”.

“They are not leaving because of simply better pastures but they are frustrated at the management style within the hospital setting.”

Worrell said he would also be holding the feet of the Minister of Health to the fire on the Mpox cases.

He said the World Health Organisation (WHO) had issued a list of standards for best practices in dealing with monkeypox.

“This is something we cannot take lightly. In the last couple of weeks there was intensified communication in regards to monkeypox because of the outbreak in parts of Africa, and the WHO said it was becoming a global concern. While the Ministry of Health does not have to tell the public who has it, there are certain protocols the ministry must follow in terms of giving notice that we did have a case of monkeypox. It is also in these protocols for communication with the public as well, because you want to reduce the stigma and you also want to make the public aware because many of us do not know what to look for in the case of monkeypox.”

He said the Ministry of Health needed to rebuild the level of trust with the public.

“We should not be finding out about situations like these via a backdoor or a whistleblower.”

He called on the Minister of Health to give a full account of what is happening in Barbados and let people “know the bread and butter issues”.

“We need to hear from the Minister of Health, Senator Jerome Walcott on all the health issues and the QEH issues.” (NS)