GIVING THE QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL (QEH) BOARD a new look is part of Government's plans to correct wrongs at the troubled institution.

Parliamentary representative for St James South, Donville Inniss, took this position on Tuesday when the House of Assembly debated a bill changing the composition of the 13-member board.

"The Government is committed to making the wrongs at the QEH right," Inniss said, after giving a long list of problems the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) administration found at the hospital.

According to Inniss, the shift reflected Government's position that it could not be "business as usual" at the institution.

Range of disciplines

The changes will see the appointment of individuals across a range of specific professional disciplines.

Those disciplines are accounting, engineering, finance, human resource management, industrial relations, information technology, law, medicine, nursing and paramedical services.

Before members of the QEH board were only required to (a) possess the expertise, business acumen, professionalism and experience that would allow for the proper discharge of their function; and (b) be individuals who have demonstrated (i) competence and outstanding achievement in their field of endeavour; and (ii) commitment to community or public service.

Opposition members complained yesterday that the trade unions and other key groups were being taken off the board.

However, Member of Parliament for Christ Church West Central, Stephen Lashley, said there was nothing to stop the Minister of Health from appointing representatives from the unions, the churches and "wherever" who "in his informed judgement" would contribute to the overall objectives of the QEH.

According to Lashley, it was not a matter of representing institutions such as the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners or the National Union of Public Workers on the QEH board, but "representing the people of Barbados" on the board.

Rescue plan

He described the changes as aimed at helping the QEH improve its management and effectiveness.

They were in line with Government's plan to "rescue the QEH", he told parliamentarians.

MP for St Lucy, Denis Kellman, said the changes would allow the QEH to be managed more effectively.

They would also allow professionals to have the freedom they needed to help in the proposed turn-around of the institution, he told Parliament.

He also saw the changes as stopping what he called "the muzzling of boards".

Government MPs took the position that the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Government had left the QEH "in a mess" and changing the composition of the board was a first step towards giving the institution a new lease on life.

Inniss charged that the BLP had virtually brought the QEH "to its knees", with problems including a shortage of supplies and equipment, foreign nurses who did not understand the Barbadian culture and staff morale at "an all-time low". (TY)