-recommendations to be submitted to hospital
The Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Social Services on Friday met with officials of the Georgetown Public Hospital on matters of concern observed during the group’s visit to the hospital four weeks ago and the waiting time for treatment was a key issue.
Recommendations from the committee are to be dispatched to the hospital for implementation.
The GPHC team included Director of Medical and Professional Services, Dr Madan Rambarran, CEO Michael Khan, Supervisor of the Admissions and Emergency Department, Dr Navin Rambarran and Assistant Directors of Nursing, Owen John and Sister Laki along with Manager of Health Management Information Systems, Narika Basdeo.
Members of the Committee who were present at the meeting included Committee chair, Amna Ally, PNCR-1G MP Cheryl Sampson and PPP/Civic MPs Norman Whittaker, Shirley Edwards and Albert Atkinson. Latchmin Budhan-Punalal represented the Alliance For Change.
Ally presented to the GPHC officials various complaints received by the committee during the visit relating to the length of time an out-patient spends in the A&E waiting area before receiving medical attention as well as areas of concern which the committee believed were lacking in the operational procedures of the A&E. She said the complaints were discussed between members of the committee at their last meeting.
The matters included the waiting time, priority being given to patients based on race, a shortage of doctors at the MOPD influenced chiefly by contracts, a shortage of nurses due to migration, nurses and doctors being employed at private hospitals as well as the non-prioritisation of children seeking medical attention.
Dr Navin Rambarran in response to matters relating to the A&E department, outlined the general operations of that department. He said the department is usually manned by a team of doctors with the support of registered nurses, patient care assistants and other support staff. Four doctors usually man the department during the two day shifts while two doctors work from 8 pm to 7 am the following day. Rambarran noted that the GPHC treats 75,000 patients each year, according to statistics gathered in 2006. He said on average 200 persons are treated each day while persons wait an average of 60 minutes before being attended to. He said patients are categorized as immediate, urgent or non-urgent. He said the most influential factor in the time a patient waits to be treated is the rate of patient turnover since a doctor may have to attend to one patient for a number of hours. Rambarran said the hospital faces a high rate of staff turnover and he noted that at the beginning of this year, seven doctors were employed by the department on a full-time basis while at the moment only four are in the department.
Registration
Ally said many persons were waiting at the institution for as much as 7 to 12 hours during the committee‘s visit. She mentioned several cases which were observed by the team during the visit. She also asked whether the MOPD has a registration system in place as she noted that during the visit a number of patients registered their names with the security guard.
Dr Madan Rambarran, in answering Ally’s concerns, stated that one cannot judge a situation based on one patient or situation. He said in certain parts of the world persons wait for hours before being attended to.
MP Whittaker agreed with Dr M Rambarran on the latter but noted that there are concerns which need to be addressed. As regards the figures mentioned by Dr N Rambarran, Whittaker said that 200 persons per day seeking medical attention breaks down to approximately 9 persons per hour. He asked whether measures could be put in place to improve these figures, mentioning the prospects of having a medex giving support to doctors. He noted that persons in the waiting area of the A&E may become uncomfortable after noticing movement of other patients in the unit.
Dr M Rambarran in response noted that there are patient advocates who usually communicate with patients waiting in the A&E. He said there is indeed room for improvement within the department and steps are being taken in that direction.
Punalall noted that the problem within the MOPD department may be the type of patient accessing the unit for treatment. Dr M Rambarran said ideally, the unit treats patients from communities surrounding the GPHC. He said persons from communities outside of Georgetown are usually expected to seek treatment at health centres in those areas. Ally also noted that the services offered by the health centres should be improved. She said on many occasions persons are often referred to the GPHC for treatment after visiting the health centre in their area. Rambarran said the GPHC was recently given the responsibility to supervise certain health centres in communities outside Georgetown.
Ally also noted that the issue of children seeking medical attention is a very crucial one. She recalled that in her youth, a child seeking medical attention is usually attended to immediately. She asked the GPHC officials to immediately address this issue noting that a child waiting for hours before receiving medical attention is unimaginable.
PNCR-1G MP Sampson recommended that the GPHC should invest in publicity programmes in order to achieve positive results. She explained that the common man may visit the GPHC since historically he/she may have been accustomed to this practice. She said steps should be taken to have advertisements on air or educational awareness programmes to sensitize the public on the availability of health centres and hospitals close to their places of residence. Another concern raised by Sampson was the language barrier encountered by patients when being attended to by Cuban doctors. She recommended the placement of another health professional to communicate with the patient and Cuban personnel.
PPP/Civic MP Atkinson’s main concern was the breakdown in communication between the Regional Health Services and the GPHC when patients are referred from the interior. He said patients also complain about the referral dates given to them. He said it costs the government millions of dollars to upkeep interior-based patients at the Amerindian Hostel. He asked the GPHC officials to ensure measures are put in place to address the problems faced by hinterland-based patients.
Committee chair Ally noted that recommendations discussed at the meeting will be documented and forwarded to the GPHC. She said Friday’s forum was not meant to ’beat down’ on the GPHC and she expressed hope that the recommendations will be addressed as soon as possible. She also acknowledged the efforts of the hospital administration. Dr M Rambarran said that the institution will address the issues highlighted at the meeting.
