The island’s clergy have been having a hard time gaining access to patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The situation has got so bad, said Canon Austin Carrington, rector of Christ Church Parish Church, that he has “decided” to content himself with ministering during regular visiting hours even though, he said, those hours might be inconvenient for the clergy.
The cleric was delivering the sermon at his church as members of the Barbados Nurses’ Association gathered there to celebrate the opening of Nurses Week yesterday.
Acknowledging the need for security at the hospital, especially in light of past incidents, Carrington however said locking the doors of the wards meant that clergy no longer had easy access to patients.
“Unless we are called to the hospital to some emergency situation, maybe at night, then we are called to the ward and then allowed to go there,” he said.
“And I’ve now decided not to fight the situation and I’ve decided to visit at lunchtime or in the evening, during regular visiting hours, which is not always convenient for us as clergy in relation to dealing with a particular individual,” Carrington said.
