The Fiji Nursing Association has raised grave concerns over the safety of their members working in the Navua Hospital, where there has not been a reliable supply of running water and the hospital's physical structure itself is falling apart for some time now.
The FNA says this concern is not new and it has been reported and discussed a number of times between the FNA and the Ministry of Health and Medical Services in the past 2 years it has now re-surfaced in a more seriously unsafe state where the very safety of the nurses and the patients are at high risk.
They say the organisation did an observation at the hospital and the FNA General Secretary Filomena Talawadua had a discussion with some of their members who are working in the facility.
They add from the discussions they had, it was revealed that patients and relatives who were in the ward were complaining about the water issue and they have had to buy their bottled water and lift buckets of water to use in washrooms and showers.
The FNA asks how fair is this to patients who are hospitalised and how long they have to succumb to such unhealthy conditions as hospitals are not to operate without clean running water.
The Association says this is an OHS issue that needs to be dealt with urgently and with utmost priority as these issues have been there since COVID and nothing has been done about it allowing the people of Navua and the nurses to work in the same unhealthy unsafe conditions.
They say the people of the Serua and Namosi province and the residents living within the subdivisional boundaries deserve better.
The FNA is calling on the Minister for Health and the Permanent Secretary and his management team to get their act together and deal with this issue with urgency as the duty of care of any nurse is to ensure the preservation of life to the fullest, and the work environment must be conducive to foster this.
They add that given the unsafe state of the building and the inadequate water supply, the Navua Hospital should be closed as to remain in operation is to put the lives of all workers, and patients and relatives at high risk of injury or even death if the building collapses.
We sent questions to the Minister of Health Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu and his Permanent Secretary Dr Jemesa Tudravu on the 24th of last month and they are yet to respond.
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