Maladministration by management of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) has resulted in the deterioration of the health care offered by nurses and the situation at the institution is now so dire that it may be the worst state Guyana’s healthcare system has been in yet.
This is according to Executive Director of the Guyana Nurses Association Grace Bond and retired Matron Marva Hawker, who believe that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital Michael Khan, has hijacked the role of the Nursing Director.
Khan declined to respond to the allegations made when approached by Stabroek News yesterday. He stated he was not fully aware of the circumstances surrounding the claims.
Bond and Hawker spoke with Stabroek News about what they believe to be a rapidly deteriorating healthcare system, which they attributed to a breakdown of communication lines and the obliteration of basic procedural practices by the relevant authorities. Bond explained that the lines of authority at the GPH have become so muddled that there is confusion among nurses as to who they should report to. This has led to an inefficient and chaotic environment, she said.
“Our major concern is that there is no administration—no management going on at the GPHC as there is no certified Matron or Deputy Director of Nursing Service and the nurses are confused because they do not know who to take their instructions from,” she asserted.
Hawker further added that the indiscipline of nurses in training has been compounded by the fact that senior nurses are unable to discipline their less experienced counterparts as they are later reprimanded for doing their jobs.
“The CEO, he likes to control nurses, and he can’t do that. In any department where you work, you have sections, you have the nursing head …If a Sister in a ward disciplines a nurse, she goes to him and he will discipline the Sister,” Hawker related.
Hawker’s comment echoes a similar sentiment expressed by the Nursing Association in a letter penned in response to a Kaieteur News article titled, ‘Florence Nightingale Weeps.’ In the letter, the Association wrote, “When seniors speak out on issues it is termed ‘insubordination.’ When juniors are reprimanded it is termed harassment.” This quote alluded to the dismissal of GPHC’s Nursing Director Colleen Hicks by the hospital’s CEO earlier this year.
Bond said that although all is not well within the nursing profession, efforts are being made by the Association to improve conditions. She said that members are hurt and deeply distressed by what is taking place at the GPH but there is still hope that the profession will be restored to the glory of the olden days.
“We are not hiding the fact that there are things amiss at the hospital; there are nurses that are good and nurses that are bad. We have some Florence Nightingales and we have others who are not Florence Nightingales, who take the Florence Nightingale oath and throw it aside. We admit that, but we still want betterment in Guyana. We want things to improve and we’re working towards having things improved…somewhere along the line, the discipline started to fall away…somewhere along the line…and this is the stage that it’s at now. So we’re trying to get things back. We have to get things back,” she said.
In response to steps taken by the Association to address the issues highlighted, Bond told Stabroek News that several attempts were made to reach Minister of Public Health Dr George Norton since his appointment to office but their attempts have proven futile.
