Doctors at the Port of Spain General Hospital are shocked and traumatised by the shootings and murders which occurred outside of the Emergency Department yesterday, (Sunday, 2nd June 2024.)
In a release today, doctors attached to the Northwest Doctors Association, said the greatest hurt in the aftermath is that their colleagues who work in the Emergency Department still have had no official communication from the administration of the NWRHA.
They said no security action plan of what to do in such an emergency has ever been officially presented to staff nor have they practiced safety drills.
“We have had to rely solely on WhatsApp group chats to ensure the safety of our colleagues and other members of staff.”
“This is just the latest in a series of incidents that have led to the erosion of trust in the administration. Notably we have had the intrusion of prisoners during the 2015 prison break and the execution of a patient on ward 3 some years ago. These incidents compound the various direct threats staff face on a daily basis.”
The release further stated that, “Clinicians have been physically and verbally abused on the hospital’s compound. We work in a hospital surrounded by various local gangs as recently highlighted in a series of YouTube documentaries and thus we cater to the highest proportion of gunshot wounds nationally.”
“After an incident in our outpatient clinic last year where staff was threatened to be killed by a patient, calls were made by us to have a police post on the compound which we were told was rejected for reasons beyond the control of the NWRHA.”
The doctors said they continue working under the consistent affirmation that doctors cannot strike or take industrial action. As such juniors work in fear that if they speak out, their jobs will be at risk.
“It is always “business as usual” the day after these major security incidents, but not this time.”