GPHC to decide on fate of Nursing Director  
Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence
Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence

– in the case of alleged abuse against female nurse

THE investigation by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) into allegations made by a female nurse against the conduct of the Director of Nursing Services has concluded. The management of GPHC is expected to deliberate on the findings and decide on sanctions, if any.

Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, on Friday confirmed that the investigation was completed, but said it is up to management to decide on action to be taken.
“The [GPHC] CEO [Brigadier (Ret’d) George Lewis] verbally informed me that they have received the report from the committee that was put together, and they will be holding their in-house meeting to review the report and then recommendations will be made to address that,” Lawrence told the Guyana Chronicle.

“The committee wasn’t asked to make recommendations; they were asked to investigate, to ascertain the authenticity of the report and also in terms of who did what that would’ve taken them over crossing that line,” the Health Minister clarified.
The director of nursing was reportedly sent on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Last Friday, Minister Lawrence reported that the director was not back on the job.

“No, he’s not,” Lawrence confirmed.
Efforts made to contact CEO Lewis for a comment on the situation on Sunday proved futile.
Last December, the director of nursing services was accused of instructing a female supervisor to inspect a female nurse to prove that she was menstruating. This was said to have been done, since the nurse had earlier asked to be excused from a meeting to go and attend to herself.

The nurse said she requested to go home and attend to herself first, but instead, the director requested sanitary napkins for her, and in a room, in the presence of other superior supervisors, she was instructed to go to the washroom and have the inspection done.

Subsequently, the committee was put together and an investigation was launched into the incident.
In a previous interview, Minister Lawrence noted that she was disturbed by the issue, but believes that justice should be allowed to run its course, so that the matter could be properly adjudged

“I first saw it on Facebook and when I saw it I felt really, really sick about it but we have to wait until the investigation is finished before I can comment on the matter,” the Health Minister said.

The situation came to light when the nurse shared her account of the situation with Guyanese social media personality, Melissa Atwell. Atwell then shared it on her Facebook page, where it was extensively discussed and shared.

Other nurses, all anonymous, have since also shared allegations of issues that they have faced.

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