The New National Party is deeply concern with recent developments at the Princess Alice Hospital at Mirabeau, St. Andrew’s where many patients are unable to get medical attention because of the shortage of staff at this important facility which serves many of the rural parishes in the country.

The New National Party believes that government’s neglect of the Princess Alice Hospital has resulted in nurses having to work under tremendous pressure to deliver health care to members of the public, many of whom cannot afford the high cost of private health services. When workers are overstrained with work and are made to perform under less than desirable circumstances, the quality and effectiveness of the service they provide is significantly compromised.

Our nation’s health is our wealth and we are extremely dismayed with the lethargic manner in which government dealt with the Princess Alice problem, causing it to escalate to its present state. One can recall the present Minister of Health championing the cause of health workers while in opposition and promising to make problems in the health sector a thing of the past if they were to form the government. It is therefore very ironic that no apparent urgency was attached to this major problem at Mirabeau until it rapidly deteriorated to its present state.

We empathize with both the hard-working nurses and the sick patients at the facility at this time and call on the Minister of Health, along with the relevant authorities, to act with the utmost urgency in this matter and to swiftly take all the necessary steps to have this unfortunate situation rectified as soon as possible and to put in place the requisite structures to avoid any future recurrence.


From The New National Party