Keep Small; But not on LHS payroll

*THE GOVERNMENT CAN KEEP RUDY SMALL ON ITS PAY ROLL BUT NOT AT
LINDEN HOSPITAL COMPLEX (LHC) Regional Councillor, Mr. Norris King said.
Small, who was fired and in less than 24-hours reinstated as LHC’s Chief Executive Officer
(CEO), ignited a furor in Linden when he accused nurses of the health institution of moral
looseness and industrial indolence.
He told www.aroundtheregions.com that some of LHC’s nurses escape from night duty to have
dalliances with their lovers. Some of the nurses Small vilified in the taped interview have
spouses, and labour and other officials expressed worry about the real-life consequences of the
CEO’s shocking utterances.
Nurses, backed by the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) Upper Demerara/Berbice (Region
Ten) branch commenced industrial action to push Small out of the healthcare institution.
Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary (PS), Mr. Malcolm Watkins, notified Small of his
removal by letter Tuesday, and the following day rescinded the decision, handing the CEO a
warning to behave better.

The proverbial ‘slap-n-the-wrist’ for Small’s egregious, sexist offence incensed LHC employees
further and their sense of outrage multiplied when Small turned up Wednesday, with security
detail, waving at striking workers, flashing an unrepentant smirk.
“Everybody got to work. I don’t have a problem with the government having him employed
somewhere, but it is for them to decide the extent of the responsibility and authority that they are
going to vest in him,” King, a Region Ten RDC member said.
“This is my position: he would have erred, and the actions meted to out to him are just and in
accordance with the extent of his misconduct. But we all are entitled to a livelihood and I am

saying again, that I don’t have a problem with the government maintaining employment for him
but they must curtail the authority and scope that they give him because it’s evident that he isn’t
fit for senior management positions. He is totally unfit as a senior manager. But he still has a
right to work. He might be a family somewhere depending on him, so we must understand that. I
am not that unfair to any human being. We may not be friends, but I respect the fact that he is a
human being,” King maintain.
Nevertheless, the RDC official is adamant that Small, now a toxic presence, must not be retained
at the LHC for the morale of workers there.
Quizzed whether an apology from the Government or Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony,
will help reduce industrial tension, King argued that if the administration were responsible, the
nurses and or the public would not need to request an apology and/or moral or psychological
support.
“Responsible administrations wouldn’t have to be prompted to get a response or an apology and,
in some cases, moral and or psychological support. But here I am saying that those actions are
judgment calls for those persons: if it is the President, if it is the Vice President, if it is the
Minister of Health or if it is the PS on their behalf, they have to decide that, those things will
indicate to us what their moral values are or where they stand morally on these issues,” he
declared.

The outspoken Regional Councillor said that the issue should be a wakeup call for men and
women, stressing that professionals must recognise the responsibilities they carry, and ensure
they remain professional and ethical at all times.
“Whether it’s for men or women, I believe that we all contribute indirectly to a number of things
that happen in this country, and if we are to see them improve, then we need to do better than we
are doing with our idle chatter and irresponsible remarks because they can go a very long way,”
he counselled.
King said he was driven to become publicly involved because Small’s attack on the integrity of
the nurses is a vicious assault on the fabric of families, and he felt compelled to raise his voice in
objection to the CEO’s chauvinistic onslaught.

He was happy though for the publics’ overwhelming support for female victims of Small’s
diatribes. Pleasant too, for him, was the presence of Muslim nurses who joined the protest line to
register their utter disgust, and support for Small’s firing.
“It was very nice seeing some Muslim sisters joining that are also nurses. They have to work all
the different shifts too, so is the CEO saying that these people are signing in and then leaving
their jobs and return in the morning? We also have Christian sisters who are very disturbed by
the statement. Is he saying that these Christian women do come and sign in, leave during the
night and then return (in the morning?) I am saying that because of these irresponsible statements
– whether by male or female – as we have some women contributing to the disrespect and the
destruction. I have witnessed some women on the street throwing insults at nurses. It is not only
having men to be respectful and to avoid making certain remarks, but it is for everyone to do it,
women also, women need to desist from doing it also” King counselled.