The Ministry of Health will not be commenting on the circumstances surrounding Farida De Souza who died at the Georgetown Hospital after suffering three heart attacks during a 12-hour wait at the institution, until there is a meeting with her son.
This is according to Minister Bheri Ramsaran who said that instructions have since been given to find out how the woman died.
“The meeting needs to be addressed first. We need to check it before we comment”, he said stressing that he will not be making any official comment on the issue at this time.
According to Ramsarran, the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Michael Khan has been given orders to find out what happened, the time line and what if anything went wrong.
He added that the “system is working on a complaint that went public”.
When contacted Khan told Stabroek News that he will not give a comment over the telephone but rather in person.
Meanwhile, this newspaper learnt that arrangements are still being made to have the woman’s son visit the hospital to point out the nurses who were on duty in the emergency room when his 56-year-old mother first visited the institution.
An upset Raul De Souza had told this newspaper that the staff on duty in the emergency room did not react positively to his mother’s complaints of chest pains. He had said that after collapsing at home around 11.30 am on May 13, she was rushed to the hospital in a taxi since the hospital had no ambulance at the time.
He recounted how his mother was made to sit in the waiting area of the emergency for some time before she was looked at. He said that she was given two bottles of saline and samples of blood were taken around 2.30 pm that day.
Once she had finished receiving the saline around 5pm, she was told to go back to the waiting area to await the results of the blood tests.
According to him, the benches were most uncomfortable and when he inquired about a bed for her he was told that there was none. Around 10.30 pm she started complaining about chest pains and he alerted the nurses on duty but was told they have to wait on the results after which the doctor would assess the situation.
Around 2.30 am on May 14 the results were finally ready and the doctor on duty requested that a chest x ray be done since he did not like the looks of the x ray.
Based on the accounts of Raul, the mother of four was made to walk to the x ray department without the assistance of a porter or a nurse; she was accompanied by her daughter in law. De Souza was rushed back to the emergency room in a semi-conscious state. Shortly after she suffered two minor heart attacks and then a massive one. This resulted in 90% of her heart being damaged, Raul was told by hospital staff.
She was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and placed on life support. She died the following day, May 15, around 7 o’clock.
