The Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) yesterday said that a patient who was allegedly left unattended for hours died from a ruptured brain aneurysm and massive intracranial bleeding.
In a release, the hospital said that the death of Basmattie Balkarran “may not have been preventable… but the hospital is still pursuing investigation as to why she was not seen in a timelier manner”.
Meanwhile, relatives of the Ruby Back Dam, Parika woman are doubtful that the hospital’s investigation of the incident will yield them justice.
The family said their primary reason for airing the incident in the press is to highlight the need for medical personnel to pay more attention to patients especially those in critical condition.
Balkarran’s sister Daiwantie Singh told Stabroek News yesterday that she had learnt from newspaper reports that the hospital’s administration would investigate the incident but she believes that nothing would come of it. “We not looking for anything, but they had she for hours there without looking at she. They just had she out there and if we didn’t make noise they would not even carry she in. So we ain’t expect nothing, but they must pay attention to other people when they go there,” the woman said.
Twenty-eight-year-old Balkarran was a mother of three children ages seven, five and three. Singh said “If they could at least help with them children who left with they daddy that would be good but we not looking for anything from government, because she done dead and we will cremate she.”
Meanwhile, Singh said she could not hazard a guess about what may have led to her sister’s death, though the woman had previously suffered from hypertension. She said too, Balkarran had never had a serious attack prior to Saturday. On Saturday persons thronged the entrance to the Emergency Room (ER) after Balkarran’s relatives erupted in tears and anger when the woman died. They later told this newspaper that the woman was rushed to Georgetown from the Leonora Cottage Hospital and she was made to wait for hours before receiving treatment. Yesterday, relatives said that Balkarran was taken into the ER at 5 pm after waiting to be treated at the city hospital since 10am. They alleged too that after she was taken into the room she was again made to wait and by the time the doctor attended her she had started gasping and frothing and soon expired.
Following Stabroek News’ report on the incident on Sunday the hospital released a statement saying that a committee has been established to inquire into the woman’s death. It said it was “fully committed to finding out exactly what happened when the patient was brought to the Accident and Emergency Unit and has set up a committee comprising the Sister in charge of the Accident and Emergency Unit and the Assistant Director of Nursing, among others to fully investigate the matter.” Further, the hospital said it viewed the article with “deep concern.”
The committee is expected to submit a report on the matter tomorrow.
