Louis-Constant Fleming Hospital staff are currently on strike pending the outcome of negotiations for better conditions. (Robert Luckock photo)
MARIGOT--Louis-Constant Fleming hospital staff are currently on strike, citing poor working conditions, lack of materials and the instability of management. The strike began on June 5.
The hospital has undergone several changes in management in recent years for various reasons which staff say is simply not normal and not conducive to cohesion and continuity.
“We don’t have a permanent director at the moment and this high turnover in management does not work in our favour because every time a new director starts, we have to go back to the beginning with our grievances” explained the General Confederation of Workers and Federation of Health and Social Action (Confédération Général des Travailleurs et Fédération de la Santé et de L’Action Sociale, FSAS-CGTG) union representative Marceline Dessout. “We are not advancing because of this situation.”
The last director was actually a Financial Director brought in to replace the director who came before. He was removed from his post by the regional health agency ARS for posting racist comments on social media. Prior to that, the director of the Saint Barthélemy hospital was asked to fill in as an interim director, and he began commuting between both hospitals for a temporary period.
“This new interim director we have now has taken his vacation, leaving the hospital in total chaos, so we find that this is too much. We have been very patient over the years. We always had hope that better days are ahead.”
According to Dessout, all services have seen a reduction in staff. She gave an example of the Paediatric Ward where normally there is a Head Nurse and an Assistant to the Head Nurse, but is now functioning with just one person per day.
“If you are monitoring a baby in an incubator, and you are called to check a baby in another room you cannot leave because you are on your own. If anything were to happen, the hospital management would be responsible. The point is, this is putting the diploma of the nurse and the protocols and procedures she has to follow in jeopardy. This is the reason why we are striking.”
Elsewhere in the hospital, equipment is awaited for the kitchen and essential work in the kitchen has not been done to date. Dessout also alluded to the hospital’s dire financial situation.
Ironically in 2025, the hospital received a Quality Assurance Certification. Despite the problems of management, doctors and nurses continue to care for patients on a daily basis.
Dessout said a meeting was held with the direction on Friday where 17 points, grievances from different departments, were being negotiated.
“So far we have come to an agreement with 11 of those 17 points. We have asked the interim director to sign off on those 11 points, and we will continue negotiating on the remaining points. But he hasn’t signed yet and we haven’t received the documents. That’s why we are still here.”
The interim director is in France and was not able to comment on the strike.
