Idi Stuart, president, National Nursing Association of T&T is cautiously optimistic that their demands for better security at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital would be met when the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) releases its recommendations today.
“We made a number of recommendations inclusive of having a high-risk unit to place all high-risk patients in one area away from the general population. So that there would be heightened security for that area,” he told the Guardian yesterday.
Stuart said that in the meeting they held with the Minister of Health and the NWRHA last week, they had made several proposals for better security in light of dangerous circumstances that the staff and patients of the hospitals have experienced in recent times.
This meeting followed the incident where a gunman walked into the Port-of-Spain General Hospital and killed a patient last week.
Stuart said that they would not be satisfied with security details unless their three main recommendations are met.
Their first demand is the implementation of a high-risk unit separating high-risk patients from normal patients with a permanent police presence.
Also, they are asking for the partitioning off of the wards and visitors can only enter the wards through one area and not through multiple entrances as what exists now. Visitors would be required to show their ID when they enter.
Thirdly, the Association wants at least three MTS security guards who are on duty at any one time to be precepted.
He added that the Association must see concrete action from the authorities based on their demands.
“We would want to see an agreement that these recommendations have been taken on board. Some will be short term like the walling off of the area. That could be done in a short time. The precepted MTS guards that could be done immediately. As for the high-risk patient area we could be a little more lenient in that and wait a bit longer,” he said.
The requests came after two gunmen walked onto Ward 3 at the hospital last week Tuesday and shot 25-year-old Dejean Broker of Hillview Laventille multiple times as he lay in his bed, killing him on the spot.
Both the Police Service and the NWRHA had promised to increase security, with police saying it would maintain a prolonged presence in and around the hospital.
