Black Immigrant Daily News

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Saint Lucia’s Health Minister has expressed concern that violence and road accidents are putting a strain on the Island’s health services and taking a toll on health professionals at the hospitals and other health care facilities.

Moses Jn Baptiste spoke to reporters on Tuesday after the fatal shooting of 38-year-old nurse Keziah Wilson.

Police said the Goodlands, Castries, resident sustained a gunshot wound to the head at Goodlands.

She was in her car at the time.

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“This is very sad,” the Health Minister told reporters on the sidelines of a House of Assembly meeting regarding the country’s 63rd homicide.

And he expressed condolences to the family of the deceased.

Regarding the spike in violence, Jn Baptiste noted that when people get injured, hospitals have to engage the services of the police or private security to ensure the safety of staff and patients.

And he recalled that recently, the OKEU Hospital appealed to the public to lessen the burden.

“This is a very serious problem for the hospitals, and it continues to strain our services, and medical care is diverted from regular care to emergencies. When you have emergencies, you can well imagine almost all hands have to be on deck,” the Vieux Fort North MP explained.

“So this is a serious problem, and we continue to advocate for more peaceful means of settling disputes. But also we continue to advocate to the whole of society to assist the police in getting to the bottom of these homicides,” Jn Baptiste stated.

Headline photo: Stock image

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The proposed introduction of paternity leave in Jamaica for fathers of newborns and family leave for adoptive parents bringing a new child into the home, is slated to come into effect on January 1, 2023.

This was stated by Jamaica’s Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Marsha Smith, who also advised that the proposed increase of paid maternity leave from 40 days to three months will commence on January 1.

She was speaking at the Civil Service Week Public Forum at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel on November 22. The forum was held under the theme ‘The Public Sector: Forging Ahead with Determination’.

The changes are coming out of the current public-sector compensation review and will be facilitated by updating the Public Sector Staff Orders of 2004.

The compensation review is intended to overhaul the structure of salaries and other emoluments in the public service.

“This is an opportunity for other Jamaicans who have the capacity and the ability to take on fostering to foster a child. If you are a public servant, you are going to be given that opportunity to get those weeks to settle that child in before you go back to work fully. This is why we are trying to modernise the public sector in real ways to meet the ways of public servants, not just in terms of compensation but also in overall quality of life,” she said.

Smith said the aim is to ensure that public servants are compensated in ways that are competitive with the local private as well as the international markets.

“These changes will ensure that we are able to retain the talent locally, which will ensure an efficient, simplified public sector,” she said.

Meanwhile, she indicated that the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service has reached an agreement with several trade unions representing public-sector workers on the restructured public-sector compensation system.

“I was very happy last week when the Ministry of Finance, together with its union partners… were able to sign several memoranda of understanding, and these… cover approximately 60,000 employees, and we are well under way to seeing the entire public sector being transformed,” Smith noted.

“The minister of finance… is committed to ensuring that we implement a public-sector compensation that is fair, transparent and sustainable. He is determined to ensure that each and every public sector worker is better off financially. To all public-sector workers, I say be patient; there is always some shifting around when there is transformation, but in the end, everything eventually settles down,” she said.

Smith applauded all the unions that have passionately represented their members through the process, “and I acknowledge the trust they have shown in the Government by signing this agreement”.

“For those who have not yet signed, I encourage you to do so. I am confident that this is a step in the right direction as we continue to change the various aspects of public-sector transformation,” she said.

The public forum formed part of events to observe Civil Service Week 2022.

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In a historic first, the Ministry of Health and Wellness will this Christmas season introduce an Animal-Assisted Recovery and Care (AARC) programme at the Bustamante Hospital for Children.

The pilot project for the programme will last 18 months.

This was disclosed on Tuesday by Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton during a statement in the House of Representatives. The minister described the undertaking as “an innovation for Jamaica in public health”.

During the pilot, paediatric patients admitted to the health facility will begin to receive animal-assisted therapy.

Tufton told the House that AARC is a patient-centred intervention that will complement healthcare delivery to hospitalised paediatric patients undergoing procedures or who require long-term hospitalisation.

“The details of the project, in terms of objectives, is to reduce the anxiety and stress associated with hospitalisation, reduce the length of hospitalisation, reduce the need for pharmacological intervention, and to improve the social environment for healthcare delivery,” said Tufton.

A video of Dr Teddy Barks inside the visitors’ gallery at Gordon House on Tuesday. (Credit: @themohwgovjm)

He shared that Animal Assisted Interventions (AAIs) are recognised globally as having widespread benefits for both patients and healthcare staff and that AAI is defined by the International Association of Human Animal Interaction Organisations as a goal-oriented and structured intervention that intentionally includes or incorporates animals in health, education and human services for the purpose of therapeutic gains for the humans.

Tufton said those participating in the pilot must meet the patient inclusion criteria and parents must give their consent. He said the safety of all involved is paramount.

“The hospital has in place established infection, prevention and control protocols and the project will be implemented in keeping with these protocols. In the event that there is increased admission of children, overcrowding and or an outbreak of a communicable disease, implementation will be suspended,” Tufton said.

The South East Regional Health Authority will oversee the implementation of the project while a multi-sectoral Animal-Assisted Intervention committee has been convened to provide technical coordination and support.

Evaluations will be conducted every six months and, if the pilot is successful, a Cabinet submission will be made seeking approval for the development of an AARC programme in public health facilities islandwide.

In explaining the importance of the programme, the health and wellness minister referenced a 2021 report from the Caribbean Policy Research Institute which pointed out that there is currently limited data available on the mental health burden faced by children.

The report also highlighted that “the overall mental health services for children are inadequate and there is a need for specialised and consistent mental health services for children”.

Tufton said the pilot provides the opportunity for further studies to be conducted on the mental health needs of children.

Meanwhile, Tufton introduced a golden retriever named Dr Teddy Barks who was present in the visitors’ gallery at Gordon House, as the brand ambassador for the project. Teddy, who was in the care of the curator for the Hope Zoo, Joey Brown, will be the main therapy animal for the project.

All the animals taking part in the project will be sourced from the Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Hope Zoo and Montego Bay Animal Haven. Apart from dogs, birds, rabbits and kittens will eventually be part of the programme.

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The St Ann police have confirmed that the vice-principal of Ocho Rios Primary School and a parent have been charged following an alleged physical confrontation between both parties at the school on Monday.

Senior educator Althea Green and the parent, Judene Greenland, were slapped with charges of assault occasioning bodily harm.

Head of the St Ann police, Senior Superintendent (SSP) Dwight Powell, confirmed the charges to Loop News on Tuesday evening.

He said both parties will appear in court on February 7, 2023.

Several teachers at the St Ann school walked off the job on Monday, protesting the alleged assault of Green by the parent on the school compound.

When asked if he could confirm whether the vice-principal had allegedly inflicted any injuries on the parent, leading to the educator being charged, as well, Powell said: “We are investigating a case of assault OB (occasioning bodily) harm, and the circumstances will be ventilated in court.”

According to reports, a teacher confiscated a student’s cell phone after it was used in class on Monday morning. The device was subsequently handed over to the vice-principal.

It is alleged that another student contacted the mother of the child whose phone was taken.

On arriving at the school, the mother reportedly attempted to retrieve the cell phone from the vice-principal, who resisted her attempts.

A tussle reportedly ensued between the parent and the senior educator, during which both allegedly received minor injuries.

The parent has reportedly apologised for her role in the altercation during a brief mediation session, which led to a brief protest by teachers of the primary school.

Coming out of that mediation, the parent has opted to remove her child from the public school system to a preparatory school.

Classes at the school resumed after the brief protest by the then placard-bearing educators.

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