Many parents including my self dread the end of visiting hours at The Bustamante Hospital for Children. Parents are not able to attend to his/her child on the ward after visiting hours. We are forced to leave our children (ranging from newborn to 12 years) at the institution which is understaffed compared to a low babies-to-nurse ratio in each ward. I have seen parents leaving the hospital in tears and discomfort knowing the nurses and staff will not be able to attend to their babies as they should, their attention has to be divided between the million tasks they have a day. I believe allowing at least one parent to be able to stay 24 hours could mitigate this issue. I was informed that before Corona Virus this privilege was extended to the parents. COVID-19 had a major outbreak in Jamaica and around the world which should be taken very seriously due to the magnitude of the sickness/disease, however, this was 3- 4 years ago. The outbreak isn\'t as fast spreading and life-threatening as it initially was, many Jamaicans have been vaccinated and would take the necessary precautions to keep their babies safe if allowed on the wards. I have watched numerous babies cry their throats out without being attended to. I witnessed a parent bringing the matter to a nurse that a specific baby was crying, (in which all of the nurses and staff were on the ward and could hear) she requested that another nurse check on him however that same nurse said she was going to wash her hands and return, she did not. She had to again notify the doctor for the baby to get attention, the baby was crying for more than half an hour. I understand that the nurses cannot look at every baby at once, this is another reason allowing the parents to be there 24 hours and aid them with care of the baby, which is important! The University of West Indies Hospital has a 24-hour visiting time that allows parent to stay overnight with their babies. Why can\'t The Bustamante Children’s Hospital extend the same privilege to the parents? In closing to reiterate, I\'m a concerned father who believes parents or guardians must be allowed to stay on the ward with their child overnight with a 24-hour visiting time for it will lift the burdens off the overworked and understaffs practitioners. Additionally, this will allow both patients and parents to be less stressed and mentally drained while treatment is being done.

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