Yahneake Sterling, Staff Reporter

Edith Allwood-Anderson (left) as she led nurses during a recent protest for a better salary and fringe benefits package from the Government. - Norman Grindley /Deputy Chief Photographer

President of the Nurses' Association of Jamaica (NAJ), Edith Allwood-Anderson, has threatened to reveal fully, the poor state of the island's health facilities, in an islandwide "public education campaign."

According to the NAJ head, revelations on conditions in the health sector, including the lack of equipment in hospitals, the scarcity of medical supplies and the much talked about shortage of human resources, will be the organisation's focus.

"We will be having a public education campaign ... We will raise the alarm that we need nurses to be in place. We need you (the public) to understand when you come to the health facility what is happening, and we need to have a safe environment when you come in. The bed rails must be there, there should be enough cots and there should be enough basic supplies," Mrs. Allwood-Anderson outlined.

Widespread problems

According to the NAJ head, problems with medical equipment are not unique to the Kingston Public Hospital or the Victoria Jubilee Hospital, but are widespread across the island.

She said there were malfunctioning autoclaves across the island.

She pointed to the Mandeville Regional Hospital that occasionally transports medical equipment to either the Percy Junor Hospital or the May Pen Hospital for sterilisation.

Mrs. Allwood-Anderson was last Saturday re-elected as president of the NAJ, giving her a fifth term at the helm of the organisation.

She was at the helm earlier this year when nurses staged several days of protest action in their salary dispute with the Government. That dispute has since been settled but the fiery nurses advocate has pledged to be a whistle-blower during her next term in office.

She revealed that simple equipment such as blood pressure machines are scarce in hospitals and are often bought by the nurses themselves.

Noting that archaic methods are currently being used by medical personnel to maintain the health sector, Mrs. Allwood-Anderson stressed that simple electronic devices are a must in modern health care.

"The Government needs to take stock and not wait and then react. We have to have some proactive interventions in the health sector," Mrs. Allwood-Anderson argued.