Serious lack of security at PoS General

He wanted to see if complaints of lax security and sub-pay working conditions really existed at the institution as claimed by staffers one of whom was an intern who lied about being robbed at the hospital last month.

In the end, Deyalsingh said that staff members’ complaints were legitimate as he observed several security breaches during his time undercover. He said that last week Friday, between 8 and 10 pm, he paid a visit to the PoSGH and St James Infirmary. “I was absolutely appalled at what I saw that passes for security at these two institutions,” Deyalsingh said yesterday after a demonstration of the Cardiotocography (CTG) at the maternal unit of the hospital.

The minister said the most serious security breach he noticed was at the Accident and Emergency Dept. “Last Friday night I saw the guard who is usually behind a burglar-proof gate, in front with the public. The guard is usually inside and would buzz the person in.

The guard was outside of the gate, with the public, the gate which is electronically controlled was ajar.

Anybody can get in and I simply pushed the gate and walked in with the guard outside not even being aware. “If I were a bandit I could immobilise that guard, push my way through the gate, which I did, get deep into the A and E and shoot up the place, rape people, rob people and the guard would be outside totally unconcerned. That to me is a travesty.” He said the solution is not more security but more responsible and serious security.

Of his investigation at St James Infirmary, where a nurse was raped last year, the minister said, “Instead of walking into the A and E there is a building to the right that stocks the gases. I said let’s pretend to be burglars and there is a security guard sitting next to an ambulance no more than 20 feet away. We ran toward that building, the security guard shouted an alert to stop. We didn’t stop, we just went behind the building. I said, ‘let me see what the guard’s response would be.’ We waited for 15 minutes in the dead of night and no one came to stop us. The guard did not raise an alert for any of her colleagues to come see what was taking place.

“When we came back out, she (the guard) was sitting in the same spot minding her business. Having shouted a warning, nothing else was done. The issue is not more security, it is a better quality of security.

Are we going to hire more of these kinds of guards? It doesn’t make sense,” Deyalsingh said. PoSGH Chief Executive Officer Anthony Cyrus said he has since met with the managers of nine security firms contracted to protect the PoSGH and St James Infirmary to come up with a plan to improve security.

“There are nine security companies tripping over each other and this is what I inherited. It’s a total mess. And I am held accountable.

What about the security companies and their people? I noticed at the end of central block I saw a young security guard on his phone for 15 minutes, not looking up to observe his surroundings and his supervisor came and signed him off. I am exercising my authority firmly via the office of the chairman and CEO. It does not make sense that we bring in more security guards with more phones. It takes policy and accountability,” Deyalsingh said.