‘Emergency Mode’ at hospitals is a normal occurrence in Trinidad and Tobago, but according to Idi Stuart, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Registered Nurses Association, only Tobago had the guts to declare it.
He said the overcrowding now affecting Scarborough General Hospital happens in Trinidad every single day.
“The concept of hospitals being overflowing—that is normal unfortunately, in Trinidad and Tobago. It is a normal practice. It is occurring every day in the hospitals in Trinidad and Tobago,” Stuart said.
His comments came after the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) announced it was activating Emergency Mode for 48 hours due to full medical and surgical wards and 13 patients waiting at the emergency department.
Stuart said the move was not only bold but also the right thing to do.
“We would want to commend the Secretary of Health for issuing such a notice,” he said. “It’s indeed proactive, and it will highlight the need for additional services and human resources to the public, and it will encourage persons who may tend to go to accident and emergency.”
“It may have taken the public by surprise, and [there] may be a feeling of unease,” he observed. “However, it is a good signal that the Secretary of Health has indeed seen a problem and is trying to address it comprehensively.”
Stuart noted that nursing and midwifery personnel are prepared to work extra hours, be called out from home, and rise to the occasion. He maintains they deserve better treatment.
“Mind you, nursing and midwifery personnel do not get paid for overtime work,” he pointed out.
“It’s so ironic that [with] this increasing demand, the authorities do not see it fit to at least make nursing and midwifery personnel permanently employed,” he added.
Stuart called on the TRHA and the Secretary of Health to follow their own policies and provide basics like meals and time to arrange childcare when demanding long shifts from staff.
