Thursday, January 29 2009

Huge piles of garbage left on the city hospital compound last weekend were taken away and the place cleaned on Tuesday afternoon after workers attached to the Environmental Management Department at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital negotiated with the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA).

The workers protested Tuesday after their overtime was stopped by the NWRHA, and their heads were advised to discontinue all overtime work because of the economic decline.

The nine overtime workers were cut down to three garbage collectors without supervision over the weekend. However, the rostered workers did not show up for work and this caused a big stink on the five floors at the central block; maternity; administration; lab and eye clinic upstairs.

The workers said the garbage stink was the worst at the main operating theatre while the central block “two shoots “could not hold anything more. There were maggots on the wards and the nurses’ hostels, according to complaints from some workers.

Newsday learnt after the National Union Government and Federated Workers Union (NUGFW) met with the NWRHA, ten workers were assigned to remove all the garbage on the compound from 4 pm to 12 midnight. Each worker was due to receive $315 for that day’s overtime work.

Newsday learnt after negotiations one additional man will be rostered to work overtime with the three garbage collectors, and a supervisor will oversee them. There will be no sanitation inside and outside the hospital compound on weekends, except for garbage removal. “This is not good enough; we have to push extra work during the week when it could get done on overtime; we need the women and they cut them out,”said one worker. The CEO of the NWRHA, Agatha Carrington said “the situation was rectified last night and we are looking to change management issues.”

She was speaking at the opening of the St James Medical facility.

Chairman of NWRHA Bryan Sealy said “overtime is discretionary; it’s not something that comes on automatically; we are going to bring on changes soon in the NWRHA.”

Newsday contacted President of the health section of the NWRHA, Judith James, to comment on the situation.