By Sarjo Brito
As the National Association of Gambia Nurses and Midwives demands for better allowances, the public also gets to hear startling revelations about alleged working conditions in some health facilities.
Speaking to The Fatu Network yesterday, PRO of the Association Sana Darboe said the lack of protective personal equipment has hit The Gambia healthcare system as health workers allegedly use one pair of hand gloves for up to three different procedures. Darboe said this has huge health implications as it poses a major threat to not just patients but healthcare workers themselves and the families they go home to.
“There are a lot of things that are not available in the system. Nurses are overstretched and going beyond boundaries to make sure patients are satisfied. For the past three to four months now we have been struggling. Even a glove is not available. Nurses are using one pair of gloves to perform two or three different procedures. For example, a nurse will use a glove, wash it, dry it and use it again. This is detrimental to the health of the patient and the Nurse because a pair of gloves should be used for a single procedure. Once you use a glove, it is infected already,” Darboe said.
Darboe on behalf of the association pleaded with the government of the Gambia to pay attention to their plight as they also play a key role in the healthcare system. The young Nurse also shared that they have exhausted all diplomatic means of communication to help address their struggle and are now left without a choice but to give government an ultimatum and if not met until Wednesday April 28th, 2021, they would be forced to resort to ‘other mean’ which were not specified in the interview.
“We have negotiated, and we are still open for negotiations but there is limitation to everything we do. We have given an ultimatum to the government of the Gambia to respond to us on or before Wednesday April 28. So, it is up to government now to save the Gambian people if they have the interest,” he said.
