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Established October 1895 See inside Sunday March 21, 2021 $2 VAT Inclusive NEW DIRECTION FOR GIS MINISTER of Home Affairs, rent staff complement at GIS, Information and Public and believes that they act and Affairs, Wilfred Abrahams have acted in the past, on the ad- COVID’s impact says the recent incident at vice given and the protocols and felt on QEH’s the Government Industrial practices as followed and en- School (GIS) was a conse- couraged by the powers that be Medical Aid quence of several years of at the policy level. Scheme flawed practices, and the ab- “It is now my responsibility to sence of meaningful proto- move with dispatch to garner Page 2 cols, all of which must be ad- new public confidence in the di- dressed and brought under rection of the administration of control as a matter of ur- the Government Industrial gency. School,” he stressed, announc- He gave this assurance while ing that a new Board of providing an update into the in- Management will take charge. vestigation of shocking images This new Board will comprise which surfaced last week of a of: Chair, Rev. Dr. Lucille Baird; 14-year-old girl lying naked in Deputy – Chair, Dr. Carl Ward; solitary confinement on a ce- Stephanie Chase; Rev. Lennox ment floor at the Barrow’s, St. Boyce; Cheryl Moore; and Lucy facility. Kwame Bradshaw; the He reported that the circum- Superintendent of Prisons or his stances that led to her being nominee and a sitting magis- Minister of Home Affairs, Information and Public Affairs, placed in isolation without crit- trate.Also, the Board will call on Wilfred Abrahams. ical pieces of clothing was con- the expertise of UNICEF sidered “consistent with normal Children's Champion, Faith this generation of children. tions he would like to see ema- practices”. However, acting on Marshall-Harris, and Dr.Adrian “With the new thinking that nating from the new Board. Dr. Forde: the advice of independent pro- Cummins as Legal Advisor. will be reflected in both the The Home Affairs Minister fessionals and agencies such as “There will always be a need Child Protection Legislation as further disclosed that in the last Rename UNICEF, Minister Abrahams for a secure facility to cater to well as the Child Justice Bill, 48 hours he had spoken to most isolation facility said that GIS has been informed children with challenges, but I the new Board is charged to de- of the persons involved in this that such practices will be dis- believe that everyone is on the velop policies and programmes unfortunate saga, “And we all Page 7 continued. same page, that though neces- that reflect the philosophy that agreed that we should move to “I have given instructions that sary, such a facility should be our children have rights and are put this incident behind us and the age-old practice of children geared towards providing chil- a resource to be nurtured. move forward with a common being detained in isolation dren with all the emotional, psy- “To this end, I will be meeting sense of progressive purpose in under circumstances which are chological, academic and reac- with the new Board of GIS next the furtherance of the welfare less than acceptable is archaic tional resources to enable the week to impress upon them the and wellbeing of our children. and unwarranted in this day, time spent to be productive and need to work with UNICEF in “This was a most unfortunate and must cease immediately,” to the overall betterment of the reformatting and relooking the incident and one where I per- he insisted. students,” he expressed, also re- emphasis and priorities of that sonally called the parent and “Child detention must be seen vealing that the Ministry of institution. I have personally not grandparent of the child in- as a last resort; UN Conventions Education has pledged its sup- ruled out a name change or even volved to apologise for and on are clear on this matter.” port to work with the Board and a de-emphasising of the institu- behalf of the institution, the gov- Minister Abrahams said he its advisors to tailor the curricu- tional care” he said, adding that ernment and people of has full confidence in the cur- lum and to make it relevant to these are among recommenda- Barbados,” he added. High number of structures set Local artist to be demolished this year ‘Celebrating ALMOST 40 per cent of the the Director of Environmental James, St. Philip, St. George, St. A resident of Black Rock told structures scheduled for demoli- Protection Department late last Joseph, St. Thomas, and St. the Barbados Advocate that she women and tion this year are in the urban month. In total, 234 buildings John. knew Ms. Hood and even spent communities of St. Michael. are on the list. In addition to St. One house located in Wavell some of her early childhood liv- City life’ This statistic was revealed in Michael, they are also structures Avenue, Black Rock, St. Michael, ing in the area. She said that Page 24 a recent publication of the dem- to be demolished in St. Lucy, and scheduled for demolition, olition of derelict buildings by Christ Church, St. Peter, St. was owned by Geraldine Hood. DEMOLISH on Page 3 2 • Sunday March 21, 2021 The Barbados Advocate COVID’s impact felt on QEH’s Medical Aid Scheme FEW patients have healthcare overseas, in cessed in a very deliber- that person to be able to had the opportunity to the future. ate and organized way. access care overseas. And travel overseas for “The Medical Aid There is a committee and then our Social Work treatment via the Scheme number has re- a request is usually made Department arranges Queen Elizabeth mained fairly static par- by one of our consultants with our clinicians, to Hospital’s (QEH) ticularly over the last fi- within the hospital sys- have those persons travel Medical Aid Scheme, nancial year, because tem. He will have to give overseas,” she added. on account of the with the onset of the the justification, the Bynoe-Sutherland COVID-19 pandemic. COVID pandemic, we prognosis for the patient maintained, “As a result Executive Chairman of have not had patients and then that committee, of the COVID pandemic, the Queen Elizabeth travelling,” Bynoe- that doesn’t include ad- we have not had signifi- Hospital (QEH), Juliette Sutherland revealed. ministrators, that is cant overseas travel. In Bynoe-Sutherland re- “This is a very, very purely clinical, will make fact, I think we had a few vealed the above recently important part of the an assessment as to patients overseas that we during the Estimates de- service offerings of the whether or not the case were able to get back in, bate, in response to a Queen Elizabeth can benefit from overseas but we recognize that al- query posed by Hospital and the health treatment,” the QEH’s though we did not have a Opposition Leader system more generally. Executive Chairman ex- significant call on the Bishop Joseph Atherley Where there are services plained. Medical Aid Scheme about the Scheme’s per- that are not available or “Once that decision is budget in the last finan- formance. Bynoe- expertise that is not taken, our Social Work cial year, we have main- Sutherland noted that in available in Barbados, Department then goes tained it at the existing the last financial year pa- persons can access over- through a very system- level, so that we can en- tients have been brought seas treatment and care, atic assessment of the sure that those resources back home amidst the through referrals from person’s ability, in terms are available, should peo- pandemic, but funds at- the Queen Elizabeth of whether they have ple need to access care tached to the Scheme re- Hospital. How do you ac- some insurance cover or not available at the Executive Chairman of the Queen Elizabeth main in place, to aid per- cess this service? This not and ultimately comes Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland.. sons needing to access service usually is ac- up with a formula for Hospital.” (RSM) Hospital relying more heavily on use of technology THE COVID-19 pandemic recognising its vision of ment’s broader vision of put into our Estimates, is Ministry of Innovation, smart, technologically has caused the Queen becoming “a smart QEH”. investing in digital trans- the result of having spent Science and Technology friendly hospital, will in- Elizabeth Hospital’s staff “The onset of the formation, has become time to develop a five year and the Ministry of volve efforts to strengthen to rely more heavily on the COVID-19 pandemic has critical for the future of strategy for technology. Health, to really look at the wifi and broadband in- use of technology, even as caused certainly the hos- healthcare, going for- “So we started to build how we can optimise the frastructure at the health- it seeks to provide better pital and other areas of ward,” the Executive out and use technology existing systems that we care institution, build out patient care for the na- the health system to have Chairman pointed out. more. We recognise that have and we put into our the server infrastructure tion’s citizens. to respond in unprece- She added, “The we’re having some critical Estimates this year, to re- and other efforts to have Whilst acknowledging dented ways, including the (Health) Minister and gaps, some inability to re- ally start that journey to- much more efficient data the above, Executive increased use of technol- Board of the Hospital, our spond as we would have wards building out our information systems.

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