NCW backs Striking LHC nurses

THE NATIONAL CONGRESS OF WOMEN (NCW), female arm of parliamentary
opposition Peoples National Congress (PNC) is backing nurses call for removing Mr. Rudy
Small, embattled Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC).
Small was caught on tape accusing LHC nurses of routinely escaping their night shifts for
salacious trysts. His comments created a maelstrom of protests leading to ongoing industrial
action demanding his removal from the healthcare institution.
Health Ministry Permanent Secretary, Mr. Malcolm Watkins removed Small, but within 24
hours, inexplicably reinstated the controversial CEO whose previous appointments to Leonora
Hospital and Diamond Diagnostic Centre had to be quickly pulled because of his loose lips,
philandering behaviour and dictatorial management style made employees at these institutions
indignant.
Employees at Leonora once locked Small out of his office to vent their outrage against the
controversial and toxic figure.
“We have to continue to lend our voices to this struggle so we might not be here physically but
spiritually we are there with you doing something in the background that will help you,” NCW’s
Ms. Denise Belgrave assured nurses at a public meeting Monday in Linden.
NCW executives from Essequibo Islands/West Demerara (Region Three); Demerara/Mahaica
(Region Four); Mahaica Berbice (Region Five) and East Berbice/Corentyne (Region Six)
travelled to the bauxite-mining town to show solidarity with the outraged, striking nurses.

Small’s libidinous comments have raised suspicions on the part of many spouses of nurses who
are reportedly now asking probing questions about their partners’ fidelity. Members of the public
have been vociferously accusing nurses of cheating, throwing some families into crisis.
NCW’s First Vice President, Ms. Carol Joseph-Smith, herself a controversial political figure,
reiterated the organisation’s support for the nurses, emphasising the piranha-like Small must be
removed.
“We are here to lend support to you ladies we are against any form of violence against you:
verbal or physical, we are against that, and we stand with you today. We want you to know that
we stand with you all the time but today we decided to come and give you our support. You are
our frontline workers and you ought to be treated with respect and no man, nobody should ever
disrespect you and I applaud you for your stand and you should continue (the industrial action).
The predator has to go,” Joseph-Smith declared.
Meanwhile, Chairperson of NCW and former Public Health Minister, Ms. Volda Lawrence
urged nurses to remain strong and focused, reminding them that women throughout the country
stand in unity with them.
Lawrence, who is also the Chairperson of the PNC, blasted Small for bypassing the reporting
structures in the nursing sub-sector and publicly vilifying the healthcare workers, opening them
to ridicule and jeopardizing their safety.
“We must show respect to each other, in the nursing profession there are structures. The Ministry
has a Chief Nurse, and if there was an issue, she (the CNO) could have reached out along with
the social workers to have a discourse if that were an issue,” Lawrence said.
She said Small’s accusations have increased undue suspicion and tension in several families and
relationships.
“How do I face my suspicious partner, my suspicious mother-in-law, my suspicious sister-in-
law? How do I respond to questions of why I work so often and some of my colleagues not
working so often?” Lawrence queried rhetorically.

NCW is in for the long haul and will not quit until the CEO is removed, Lawrence promised
LHC nurses.
“Today we give you our respect and we travelled here to stand with you and don’t take it lightly
because the people from Regions 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) and 2 (Pomeroon/Supenaam) wanted to
come too. We are standing with you…to the end of this. When it’s over we will…stand back but
you must get your just rights. Nobody knows where it’s leaking…in the house, and we are here to
support you,” Lawrence said.