Patients seeking medical attention at the Fleming Street Clinic could be in for a huge shock today when they show up at the community healthcare centre as nurses have allegedly planned to stage a mass sick-out.

According to sources, unsanitary and unworkable conditions at the Fleming Street Clinic have forced nurses at that community healthcare centre over the edge for the second time in a matter of months.

The source, who is closely connected to staff at the clinic, told the Bahama Journal Wednesday that conditions at the healthcare facility are “deplorable and nurses are prepared to take a stand.”

“The patients come into the clinic and it is hot and the sewerage is backed up. It’s unsanitary and the conditions are deteriorating. Enough is enough and tomorrow a lot of the nurses will not show up for work,” he said.

“Persons who go to seek medical attention today at Fleming Street will get a rude awakening and I think it will send a message because it’s only so much that they can do. They cannot work being frustrated and uncomfortable.”

This is not the first time that concerns about unsanitary conditions at the Fleming Street Clinic have captured media attention.

Government officials recently toured the clinic, but the source said the government has still not addressed several issues which continue to plague the healthcare facility.

“No one seems to pay attention to the plight of the nurses. The minute teachers complain or any other civil servant complains they get justice, but nurses are always overlooked. So, I think it is time that the minister and the public know what is going on at this clinic,” he said.

“They did a tour of the clinic with the new minister of health, but because of fear of victimisation, the nurses were unable to speak out to the minister about their horrible working conditions.”

The source said that unworkable conditions at the clinic are not the only woes that nurses face.

He said the clinic also suffers from a shortage of medical supplies.

“Nurses are going above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that supplies are bought and that patients have their necessities. Sometimes these nurses pool together their own monies to do whatever it takes to get their jobs done,” he said.

The source claimed that the shortage of supplies began when the responsibility of ordering supplies was taken away from nursing officers and transferred to administrators.

“Now that administrators are in charge of ordering supplies nothing arrives on time at the clinic. Everything comes in months later. When nurses handled the ordering process, everything was supplied on time, now it’s all just a mess,” he said.

The Bahama Journal could not reach Bahamas Nurses Union (BNU) President Cleola Hamilton last night.