Health, Wellness, and Elderly Affairs Minister Moses Jn Baptiste has disclosed that the government is seeking to ensure the safety of healthcare workers amid a current violent crime wave.
“We are working with the administrations of St. Jude Hospital, the Soufriere Hospital, the Millennium Heights Medical Complex and so on to ensure not only that they get the resources that they need but also, that they are safe,” the Vieux Fort North MP disclosed.
“We will be speaking with them and also with the security services to ensure they are safe,” Jn Baptiste told reporters on Monday on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting.
Saint Lucia experienced a bloody weekend in which a man was shot dead in Soufriere and another sustained gunshot injuries.
Another man was shot dead in Vieux Fort, and the OKEU treated 13 people injured in a shooting incident at Babonneau.
The Health Minister expressed concern over the significant impact of violent crime on the health sector.
“This continuous upsurge in violent crime is impacting the health sector in a major way – supplies, human resources, and also the fatigue of our medical professionals. So this is another dimension which concerns me greatly. It concerns the government,” Jn Baptiste told reporters.
“For me the major concern is the pressure which is being placed on our doctors, our nurses, the janitors, the staff, the security personnel at our health facilities. Certainly, all of Saint Lucia, all of our energies have to be put into arresting this crime situation,” he stated.
At the same time, the Minister expressed gratitude to medical professionals for their sacrifice, especially at the weekend.
I want to comment to the nursing student who is often disregarded. People ignore your cries now then wonder why there are fewer health workers in St.Lucia and why the ones who stay on the island are not motivated to work to their highest standard. Truth be told, the nursing field is notorious for having bullies. It has a lot to do with women’s nature of being jealous and competitive with each other and the nasty politics and backbiting that comes with that. That doesn’t mean the culture cannot be overcome. We can make some bold moves.
I say they should fire any staff that is guilty of bullying and fine any organization that allows employees to repeatedly encounter emotionally abusive situations. If there is any evidence of bullying, there needs to be public exposure. Change the culture. There needs to be consequences. A lot of these female bullies employed at these jobs say they support #womenatwork and #winningwomen but in reality bully anyone they think will be their competition (sometimes over men who are not their own while they serve as nothing more than easy sex and ego-stroking on the job). Adult women acting like idiots, always on their phones or taking pictures while management turns a blind eye. I saw it happen multiple times in different companies, even in media houses, before I left for greener pastures. I never could take those #rats seriously.
Aspiring professional nurses don’t need to be discouraged to any degree before they enter the real world. And it’s time we collectively say it’s wrong and put in place some stricter laws against compromising someone’s education and employment.
With all this crime, we need to thank the truth tellers. We need to have more people take accountability. We need to take care of our healers in society and address their concerns. One rotten plum spoils the whole bunch and that bunch then has to serve the public. So we need to get rid of the bad influences and hire professionals with qualifications as well as good sense because people, lives depend on it.
Hon PM. Thank you for your genuine concern for health care workers. Nevertheless, there is a need to protect our student nurses at SALCC. We as student nurses are emotionally and mentally strangulated under the administration of the department of nursing. Kindly noted that only one student nurse(graduant) attended the SALCC graduation ceremony which was held on Sunday the 4th of December 2022. Why?
Students look forward to graduation. One nursing student being present at SALCC latest graduation ceremony is testimony that students are unhappy in the department of nursing at SALCC. The authorities really need to give the nursing department at SALCC some priority.
What I can tell you is that Cletus and the bullar on the board don’t give a damn about the college. The rest of the board just following like blind mice.
The interns at the OKEU are given to work from 8:am to 3: pm the following day. We sometimes asked them Doc what you still doing there, they says it’s the schedule. They have that kind of shifts somes times up to three time a given week.
The system is running after the doctors as well. When you ask Doc are you coming back after you finish your year contract most says no.
The hours interns are made to work is too too long, the authority please address that, our nation will suffer. The health of our people is important . Let’s preserve our interns and house officers
Wow! Something is truly rotten over there.