Urgent need for more nurses, midwives – Deputy CMO

Diamond Diagnostic Centre

…as hospital operates on mere 25% staff

A delegation from the Public Health Ministry recently conducted a tour of the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, which revealed that the hospital is currently operating at a mere 25 per cent of its nurses and midwives’ capacity.

This is according to Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO), Dr Karen Boyle, who also revealed that the facility is in dire need of more nurses and midwives to help to improve the efficiency of the hospital.
“The hospital seems to be operating at 25 per cent of the midwives and nurses that they need so it’s really critical that we increase the nurses and midwives here,” Dr Boyle stated.
Dr Boyle committed to addressing the matter with urgency and promised to meet with the Regional Health Services Department of Region Four to have discussions on the way forward.
Notwithstanding the difficulties currently faced by the hospital, Dr Boyle expressed her overall satisfaction with the quality of services offered.
According to the DCMO, the hospital currently has two Obstetrician-Gynaecologists (Ob-Gyn) operating Ob-Gyn services; however, more support staff is needed in order for the facility to be able to effectively provide a 24-hour service.
“We need more nurses; however, to function in a number of areas as a 24-hour hospital we will certainly need more nurses and midwives and I think this is a problem that we are having countrywide. We are going to have to go back and to look and see how we can shift some nurses around because the truth of the matter is that every so often, countries from the north come in and they raise their flags and are able to attract some of our brightest nurses”.
She added that there are serious challenges in terms of registered nurses and midwives. “So, this is a particular area that we will have to find out how we can shift nurses and midwives from various regions to lend services here at Diamond so that we can have 24 -hour deliveries; a shift system that must be in place for this Diagnosis Centre to really function the way that we envision to serve the East Bank corridor,” Dr Boyle expressed.
With regard to the hospital’s capacity to meet demands, a concern of many residents, Dr Boyle stated that the Public Health Ministry has been receiving input from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) in an effort to address this issue.