7 News Belize

Nurses Slam KHMH
posted (April 6, 2020)
And while the PM doesn't want to fight with a grieving family - will he fight with the nurses?

Starting tomorrow Nurses will report to work in T-shirts. It's a quiet attempt at metaphorical industrial action designed to affect change, in this time of utter crisis. In a press release today the Nurses association said that quote: "It is echoed at every opportunity that the nurse is the backbone of the health system but the actions of the department speak nothing to that statement."

That's because the nurses of Belize are not satisfied with the materials and equipment being provided for the current Covid-19 crisis. They claim that the health facilities of Belize are not prepared to protect their staff and patients.

The association has done a countrywide tour of health facilities and On March 26th, 2020 submitted a report on the condition of various facilities and the concerns of the nurses to the Deputy Director of Health Services. To date the association has not seen significant redress of our concerns to date.

In a press release issued today the association presented a list of 6 key areas for redress and urged the Ministry of Health to address them urgently. There are several significant concerns that are consistent throughout the country that must be addressed immediately: These include the provision of Full biohazard PPEs for the entire first contact staff and those working anywhere in the designated COVID-19 areas, Proper areas for quarantine of the staff that are exposed and proper areas for all staff who cannot afford to self-isolate, and works in the COVID-19 areas and have a family, Allowances as promised, to frontline staff to be prepaid so that they can make the necessary arrangements with their families, as was expressed to be the justification for this allowance, The Replacement of outside tents currently set up as flu clinics at the different hospitals, with more secure buildings, or the retrofitting of these tents with adequate ventilation and a cooling system. A tent, though acceptable in a dire emergency, is no place for rendering high quality of service. The conditions that the staff are expected to work under are deplorable and in some instances like in Dangriga and Punta Gorda are inhumane. Working in the heat under the tent is unbearable and further compromises safety as PPEs get soiled by perspiration.

  1. Provide transport for all staff that cannot afford their own transportation, given that the national transport services are not running at full schedule. (Private and public transport operators are hesitant to allow nurses on their vehicles for fear of contracting the virus.)
  2. The Nurses Association of Belize is the organization representing the broader nursing body in this beautiful country, currently working under the Ministry of Health. We demand that we be treated with greater respect and dignity.

The Nurses Association of Belize has sent an email requesting an audience with the Minister of Health and with his CEO and to date that request has not even been acknowledged.

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