THE Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has called on President David Granger to fulfill with urgency his promise of improving the facilities and working conditions of nurses employed within the maternity ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), and moreso, all departments of the hospital.The GPSU called on the President to ensure that the conditions of all public health facilities are improved, although noting that improved conditions alone are not enough.

“What cannot be separated from any attempt to improve conditions at the GPHC (are) the emoluments of the staff of the institution, particularly our nurses. The GPSU continues to believe that our medical staff (members), including our nurses, continue to do their best in what frequently are particularly trying circumstances.

“Immediate attention to wages and salaries should, we believe, form part of His Excellency’s undertaking,” a statement from the Union said.

The GPSU commended the President and team, which included First Lady Sandra Granger, Health Minister Dr. George Norton, and Minister of Social Cohesion, Amna Ally, for visiting the institution on Christmas Day and recognising the many challenges facing the staff at GPHC; and expressed hope that conditions can be improved soon.

In its statement, the GPSU said, “The Union is comforted by the fact that His Excellency clearly recognizes the particular challenges confronting the staff of the GPHC, and specifically those facing our dedicated and long-suffering nurses. Indeed, we believe that His Excellency’s visit to the GPHC and his attendant undertaking will lift spirits among both the staff and patients of the Hospital.”

Accordingly, the GPSU has thus noted the commitment made by the President to enhance the maternity service provided at the hospital: “…we expect that, within a reasonable time frame, official attention will be paid to other areas of service at the institution. Information reaching us, for example, suggests that the issue of professional and high-quality cleaning and sanitation may be an issue at the GPHC. We believe that the time is long overdue for our medical services to pay far more attention to the nexus between sanitation standards in our hospitals and effective patient care.”

The GPSU believes that there is great need for “highly specialized interventions” that must be “investigated and implemented in the shortest possible time.”

Additionally, the Union is hopeful that, in the “shortest possible time”, President Granger’s commitment would be extended to “state-run health institutions across the country.”

“It is no secret that medical facilities elsewhere in coastal Guyana and in our hinterland regions leave much to be desired. Those Guyanese residing in and outside of the capital and its immediate environs are deserving of access to medical care that competes with the best in the capital.”

Understanding that ‘the road to improving public health institutions across the country is going to be a long one’, the GPSU believes it is important that action to improve the situation at the public health facilities occur as soon as possible.

“The GPSU is mindful of the Spartan conditions that obtain at the country’s only psychiatric institution, situated at Fort Canje, Berbice, when measured against evidence of what would appear to be the mounting need for quality psychiatric care across the country,” the GPSU has said.