By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Nurses Union (BNU) president Muriel Lightbourn said nurses are tired, burnt out and feel like they’re being “victimised” as concerns persist about the state of public healthcare in the country.

She said "it seems like nobody is caring" as she lamented what she described as deteriorating conditions at clinics, shortages of essential supplies and low staff morale that has sparked protests.

“We have to do better,” she said. “There's too much issues. There's too much. Our nation is suffering.”

The union head said nurse interns have quit and some are considering leaving out of frustration.

However, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville rejected that assessment yesterday, defending his ministry’s work to transform healthcare.

“A lot of the challenges I faced in the last term in office will not happen in this term,” he said. “We are addressing their concerns, so just to create a blanket statement that everything is in bad shape is completely inaccurate.”

Ms Lightbourn said nurses’ frustration stem from longstanding grievances, including delayed promotions, unpaid overtime, outstanding confirmation of appointments and poor working conditions.

Across several Family Island clinics, the BNU president said facilities are operating under “severe restraints.”

In Exuma, Ms Lightbourn said ongoing air conditioning and plumbing problems have forced nurses to work on rotating four-hour shifts.

She said patients at the Palmetto Point Clinic are being treated in a house that is unfit for healthcare services, while similar conditions persist at the Moore's Island clinic.

She also pointed to the Flamingo Gardens Clinic, which she said has been closing at 1pm for months because of air conditioning and plumbing issues.

Dr Darville acknowledged yesterday that renovations at several clinics are ongoing but said some issues cannot be resolved quickly.

He said funding has been allocated to upgrade clinics in Abaco, Exuma and Mayaguana and that work will be activated very soon.

Meanwhile, she said nurses continue to face delays in promotions, payments for overtime and confirmation.

Last week, nursing interns protested outside Dr Darville's office, calling to be confirmed in their posts.

Dr Darville said he had heard their concerns and was pleased to report that their cases are being reviewed by the Public Service Commission.

“On coming to office, I clearly outlined what would be some of my new strategic plans, and one of it is to expand and to revamp the HR department at the ministry, which is currently ongoing,” he added.

Frustrations are also evident on the ground, with staff at several clinics complaining about shortages of basic supplies.

Ms Lightbourn recalled one nurse telling her during a recent visit that they had to "hustle" to find dressing materials and gloves just to carry out their work.

“God ain’t pleased with this,” she added.

Other nurses claim they have been victimised since taking industrial action earlier this year.

“Some of them feel like they're being victimised because they were not paid their overtime and everything else and so the overtime you call and you ask them for help, and they're saying no, ‘we're not bringing this person. No, we can't give you this person’.”

She said the Accident and Emergency Department is supposed to be staffed by at least 16 nurses but is currently operating with only half that number.

Dr Darville disagreed with the characterisation that nurses are being “victimised.” He, however, pledged to look into their concerns on the matter.

“I’m not going to try to paint a clean picture, but those concerns are being addressed systematically, and a lot of them have to do with shortages and we’re trying to bring some additional people on as we did in the past” he added.