By Nelson Manneh
The Management of Serrekunda General Hospital has denied allegations made by some of their COVID-19 infected staff that the management has neglected them after they contracted the deadly coronavirus.
Some staff of Serrekunda General Hospital, who contracted COVID-19, alleged that their management asked them to stay at home after they contracted the virus. They said the management also failed to treat or provide them with medication. They said the management failed to check on them.
“When I conducted the test and I was confirmed to be positive, the management told me to stay at home for two weeks. From that day, I was not given any medication and they don’t even bother to check on my health condition,” one of the infected staff told Foroyaa.
Another infected staff of the said hospital said: “As a staff, I thought I deserve better, I thought the management should have considered my plight because I am part of them,”
These infected staff told this medium that it is not fair for them to be infected with the virus only for their management to ask them to stay at home without providing them with any form of assistance.
Mr. Abubacarr Saine the Administrator at the Serrekunda Hospital told this reporter that their management has never neglected any of their infected staff.
“When our staff started getting infected, the first people who were in quarantine were sixteen in number and among the sixteen some of them were at the Golden Beach Hotel and others were at the Bambo Hotel, and we tried by all means to make sure the conditions they were in, were made conducive for them,” he said.
The Administrator said those who were quarantined at Bambo Beach Hotel complained that the food given to them was poor. He said it was after they complained that the food that they were getting from the hotel was not good; that the hospital management resorted to providing them with breakfast, lunch and dinner, adding it was the management that was transporting their food.
“The management went the extra mile to make sure that each of the sixteen staff that was placed under quarantine was supported with a package. Each of them was given a package and credit allowance of one thousand dalasi so that they can call their family members while they were in quarantine,” he said.
Saine said the case of the second batch that was infected with COVID 19 came at a time when the health sector was overwhelmed, but despite that their IPC Officer was given an additional responsibility to be calling each and every infected staff to check on them and she was doing that.
“The reason why we asked some of them to stay at their homes was that at that time, the treatment centres were having a lot of cases as this was just after the Tobaski. Despite that, she was calling them to check on them and those who eventually went to the treatment centres were provided with the same package,” he said.
Mr Kebba Manneh the Chief Executive Officer of the Serrekunda General Hospital said as management, they have a system in place and this is to ensure that any of their staff who is infected is taken care of.
“We have a package for those who left their homes and were taken to the treatment centres. If you leave your home to another place, the place may not be conducive and that is why we have a package for those people,” he said.
CEO Manneh said they cannot satisfy everybody, but they don’t segregate their staff too and the support they give to one infected staff is the same support they give to others.
All the heads of the various units at the Serrekunda General Hospital were present and each of them told this medium that the hospital management has not neglected staff working under their various units.
