The Ministry of Health and Wellness has refuted information published in an article in the Nation Newspaper on Thursday, December 16, which indicated that nurses were on strike at the Edgar Cochrane Polyclinic on December 15, 2021.
The article stated that “Strike action intensified yesterday (December 15) as most of the Nursing staff of the Edgar Cochrane Polyclinic in Wildey, St Michael, did not show up for work”. However, public health officials reported that attendance records for the clinic showed that this information was false.
The Ministry noted that on December 15, the total of number of nurses who did not report for duty across the government health system was 14. The institutions affected were the St. Michael District Hospital, St. Philip District Hospital and four polyclinics.
Additionally, a total of four nurses from the polyclinics were on strike on December 15, and continued their strike action into December 16. However, the Edgar Cochrane Polyclinic was not affected by strike action on either of those days.
Over the past two weeks, six of the island’s polyclinics were impacted by strike action with an average of three nurses per polyclinic each week. Some nurses across the polyclinics and other government health care institutions took sick leave while others did not show up for duty.
The Ministry of Health stated that it was closely monitoring the situation and measures were being taken to address the current issues. As services of the various health institutions continue to be affected by the industrial action, the Ministry added it would keep the public informed of any changes.