Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran lashed out at the president of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) Patrick Yarde after he supported the Guyana Nurses’ Association’s (GNA) threat to halt the further intake of nursing students until an array of problems facing the body is solved.
Ramsaran accused Yarde of playing politics, “Don’t let that old politician masquerading as a trade unionist fool you,” he said. The minister noted that his ministry is working to resolve the issue, but refused to comment on whether the conditions to which the GNA and GPSU alluded held merit.
Several complaints, he said, have been made by both staff and nursing students about Yarde. Dr Ramsaran said he was asked by staff and students alike when Yarde would demit office as there is “young blood” that is deemed more suitable to head the union. He noted too that the GNA is only vibrant once a year.
The Health Ministry, he said, is working towards having intakes twice yearly and day and night classes.
Last month, the GNA threatened to cease intake, a move which the health minister says the body has no authority to make.
Health Minister Bheri Ramsaran
Ramsaran sought to highlight the successes of the nursing programme, noting that there are nine professional graduates from the University of Guyana (UG) who graduated with bachelor’s degrees in nursing.
He added that Gy$ 345 million was injected into the nursing training programme last year; this he said paved the way for hundreds of new nursing and technical trainees to commence studies.
On Friday, the GPSU gave the Health Ministry one month to address the deplorable conditions at the nursing school, if the deadline is not met, the union said it will remove its members who tutor at the facility. The ultimatum was made by Yarde at a press conference at the union’s headquarters on Regent Street and Shiv Chanderpaul Drive. Yarde held the press conference to voice the union’s support of the GNA’s call to halt the intake of students.
In January, GNA President Joan Stewart had expressed concerns about the growing number of students in each incoming batch, and urged the Health Ministry to halt the admission of students to the nursing programme, since the training was being compromised by overcrowding, poor accommodations, insufficient tutors and other factors.
According to Yarde, the situation at the nursing school is a “big crisis”. His assertion was based on the findings of an investigation the GPSU conducted.
“Following on the GNA’s pronouncement, the union conducted its own investigation and found not only that the Guyana Nurses’ Association assertions to be true but was alarmed and astonished by the findings of the site,” Yarde said.
Releasing some of the findings of that investigation, Yarde said that there are more than 500 students in the school with both male and female forced to share eight sanitary facilities during a 15-minute break and a one-hour lunch break. Further, the institution only has four full-time tutors for the professional nursing programme, most of which are retired nurses.
The investigation also found that limited space forced the tutors to take the students in batches of 12 for practicals in the practical room. Additionally, Yarde said it was discovered that lecture rooms were unsuitable, while students complained of not being able to hear their tutors properly.
He pleaded with the minister of health to heed the call of the GNA. “No responsible person should allow this alarming situation to continue. For not only is it unfair, de- motivating and perhaps depressing to the tutors and students, but it is also putting the general public at grave risks,” Yarde pointed out.
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