Op­po­si­tion Leader Pen­ne­lope Beck­les has warned that Trinidad and To­ba­go’s pub­lic health sys­tem is fac­ing a cri­sis due to a grow­ing stand­off be­tween nurs­es and the Gov­ern­ment.

In a state­ment yes­ter­day, the Op­po­si­tion Leader said sev­er­al health fa­cil­i­ties were forced to close last night be­cause there were not enough nurs­es on du­ty, with stu­dent nurs­es be­ing draft­ed to fill gaps. She linked the short­ages to what she de­scribed as the Gov­ern­ment’s fail­ure to pay nurs­es what they are owed.

On Fri­day in Par­lia­ment, Beck­les ques­tioned Health Min­is­ter Dr Lack­ram Bo­doe about the Gov­ern­ment’s plan to ad­dress ten­sions with nurs­es. She said he re­spond­ed that he was un­aware of any im­passe, a stance she said is now at odds with the sit­u­a­tion on the ground.