The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH Minister Dr Michael Darville said his ministry is looking to tighten security at the Princess Margaret Hospital in the wake of reports of alleged incidents that reportedly occurred at the facility.

The latest incident involved a 14-year-old girl and a 52-year-old patient at PMH.

While the Public Hospitals Authority and the hospital have acknowledged that there was an alleged incident involving the minor last Friday, no mention was made of what was alleged to have taken place.

Still, there have been claims on social media that suggest the incident was of a sexual nature.

However, National Security Minister Wayne Munroe said earlier this week that both the minor and 52-year-old patient have denied the allegations and added that investigations into the matter are continuing.

During a press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday, Dr Darville was asked to respond to the incident as well as concerns of patients using drugs at the facility.

Last week, a video was posted online showing a man snorting something into his nose in what appears to be at a medical facility. The man was also seen wearing two arm casts.

“Well, you know, we’ve released a statement,” Dr Darville said of the alleged incident involving the minor. “The statement was pretty generic, says basically we acknowledged the fact that something happened, and the police are investigating. Yesterday, the Minister of National Security elaborated on how the investigation is going on.

“For us, we take it very seriously. Our team has gone to the pathogen unit to look to see if we can actually improve the toilet facilities. That is being done.

“The second thing we’re doing is we’re looking at beefing up security. We’re looking at the various private contractors who are at the hospital and whether or not an audit needs to be done with the type of security individuals that are at the facility.

“But I wanted to let the public know that after the Minister of National Security elaborated a bit further, and I don’t want to go into it because it’s a police matter, we are moving very swiftly to look whether or not the pathogens unit had any deficiencies in the way how the toilet facilities work, and we believe that we can improve upon it and we’re going to do that.”

As it relates to reports of people using illegal substances at the facility, Dr Darville said officials are investigating the claims.

“This is something that has been reported to us on social media. It’s also being investigated. We in our security checks at the hospital, we focus on metal detection and we focus on individuals who may be bringing in a weapon that can put our staff at risk,” he added.

“But this issue of drugs coming on to the compound - if it is so, it is something that we’re looking at as well, because as you come through security, we look to see if you’re bringing in anything in there that can harm individuals, but it did create an additional eye opener to determine what’s going on. But that case is being investigated and things that appear to look on social media, sometimes when you do the investigation, it may amount to nothing.”