Nurses in Cape Coast demonstrate over insecurity

Nurses at the Cape Coast Metro Hospital have threatened to lay down their tools in a week if safety concerns at the hospital are not addressed.

The nurses are appealing to management of the facility to pay more attention to the security of staff.

In a letter addressed to the management of the hospital, concerned nurses of the hospital lamented the numerous attacks staff had suffered from robbers and hoodlums who rob them of their valuables and injure them in the process.

According to the nurses, workers who are put on night duty are usually left at the mercy of criminals as there are no security measures in place to protect them.

Illumination at the facility at night, according to the nurses, is poor.

The nurses say criminals take advantage of the poor lighting system and the absence of security personnel at the facility to attack them at any given opportunity with some being raped in the process.

The concerned nurses have therefore threatened to abandon night shifts if management of the facility fails to provide security at night.

They are also appealing to management to allow the hospital vehicle to pick nurses on night duty from home to work and transport those who come for afternoon shifts home after work.

The concerned nurses indicated that if the requests are not met by management, the night shifts would not only be abandoned but also the afternoon shifts will not travel beyond 6p.m.

One of the nurses, in an interview, said the most recent attack was on Tuesday when a nurse was robbed of her handbag which contained her mobile phone, an amount of GH¢ 150.00 and other personal belongings.

The director of the hospital declined comments on the matter, but one management member said the facility does not have the resources to meet the demands of the nurses.