Victory! - Student leader says hospital’s withdrawal of COVID-19 waiver a step in the right direction

Student government leader Sujae Boswell has described as a “big day for student rights” the withdrawal of The University Hospital of the West Indies’ (UHWI) proposal to insulate the facility from liability if clinical students contracted COVID-19 while engaging with patients on wards.

The University of the West Indies (UWI) has also given students the all-clear. Nursing students at The UWI had been seeking legal advice on the waiver. The disgruntled students had made a collective decision not to sign the form.

Chief Executive Officer of the UHWI, Kevin Allen, had earlier defended the hospital’s position.

“This is something that is not new to the hospital setting. There are other institutions right around the world that are preparing similar documents, so this is nothing malicious,” he told The Gleaner.

In a meeting held on Wednesday afternoon, the nurses, supported by the UWI Guild Council, formally expressed their concerns. The administration reinforced the option of taking a leave of absence until COVID-19 had dissipated.

Boswell, president of the guild, was concerned that the waiver applied not only to the UHWI but to other participating hospitals that probably did not request one.

“We are trying to investigate to see what is the situation across the other hospitals because, in fact, if they have not requested a legal liability waiver, that is a conversation that we have to elevate,” said Boswell.

UNDER DURESS

Student nurses at the Western Jamaica Campus (WJC) and the Excelsior Community College, who are also part of The UWI’s programme, were presented with the contracts two weeks after being on the wards.

WJC student nurse Abigale Jones said they were told that failure to sign the waiver would be viewed as direct defiance and that the hours of engagement would be counted.

“Nobody wants to sign, but everybody wants to graduate. It is quite a dilemma,” she said.

Boswell expressed disappointment in the university’s request for students to source their own disposable gowns and additional personal protective equipment (PPE). He said, however, that the deputy principal had offered to support the students.

“We received masks in a small quantity, which allows us two masks per day, and as nursing students, we do procedures that need masks where, after we are finished, we would have to throw the mask away,” a student nurse from The UWI, Mona, told The Gleaner.

Before the UHWI’s about-turn, the students were pressing for a third amendment to the waiver form.

“We want the document to reflect that they will be providing the support with the PPE and that the insurance plan covers the students if an incident arises due to COVID-19, as it clearly outlined,” said Boswell.

Attorney-at-law Chukwuemeka Cameron said that all persons were entitled to a safe working environment.

“It is a serious matter, and it may set a precedent for other employers,” Cameron said.

Allen said that the hospital would never have denied care to any of the students because of their inability to pay.