An investigation has been launched into the death of a patient at the National Psychiatric Hospital at New Amsterdam, according to Minister of Public Health Dr George Norton, who yesterday once again decried the scandalous condition of the facility and announced a plan to rectify the situation.
“An investigation has been launched into the incident so that we can tell the nation exactly what happened,” Norton told Stabroek News yesterday.
The minister, who did not want to comment further on the incident, revealed that he plans to visit the hospital shortly and put measures in place to ensure that it does not happen again.
The deceased, identified only as Eda, of Blairmont, West Bank Berbice, and her alleged assailant, 50, and another patient, were in an isolation room at the time of the fatal encounter last week Tuesday.
Stabroek News was told that Eda and her assailant had a row that escalated into a fight. The suspect is alleged to have choked the deceased and stomped her after she collapsed.
Eda was rushed to the nearby New Amsterdam Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
This newspaper was told that she had been first admitted to the hospital in 2008 and discharged in 2009. However, due to her erratic behaviour, she was re admitted to the institution a year later and became a resident patient.
Stabroek News was told that Eda was placed in isolation with the other inmates after she acted up. One staffer said the woman had stripped off her clothing and jumped into a trench.
A staff member last week told Stabroek News that the hospital has been understaffed for a number of years.
Norton yesterday said he is still extremely disappointed over the condition he found the hospital in when he took office four months ago and also noted that he found “practically nobody in charge” at the institution.
The minister said when the new government took office, the hospital was being managed by the Berbice Regional Health Authority (BRHA), which was headed by PPP/C parliamentarian Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo. The authority, which the minister described as illegal, has since been disbanded. Norton said part of the reason for the authority being disbanded was “because it was not doing anything.”
Norton said the hospital is in no state to accommodate people, much less those with mental illness and who are in need of specialised treatment. To drive home this point, the minister mentioned that there is no potable water at the institution and that patients sometimes have to resort to using water from the drains.
The building is also in a deplorable condition as is the rest of the compound.
“It is a scandal…,” he said. “Whoever was in charge should be held accountable for having Guyanese held in such inhumane conditions,” he added, while noting that the buck did not stop with the persons who may have been made to manage the day to day activities of the hospital.
He said the hospital was being used as a storage bond with vehicle tires, electrical equipment and others items being stored. He said shortly after the government was changed persons were seeing removing “truck loads” of items.
According to Norton, a large sum of money would have to be poured into the institution and a plan would kick in. He explained that three categories of patients occupy the hospital—geriatric patients who have nowhere else to live; substance abusers who can be rehabilitated and released; and patients who need periodic treatment. The plan would cater for the specific needs of these categories of patients, he said.
Although Norton noted that his ministry has a limited budget, he said very soon a mental health unit with a qualified head would be operational and the hospital would be one of its priorities. The unit, he said, already exists on paper and will soon be functioning. He added that a coordinator, identified as Leslyn Holder, whom he said is not a psychiatrist but is adequately trained in the United Kingdom to work in the area, will be leading the team. A building will now have to be acquired to house the unit.
Health in the region
There is also an ongoing investigation, which is being conducted with the help of the Pan-American Health Organisation, into the overall delivery of health services in the county under which the hospital falls.
“It is so sad at what is happening,” Norton said, while adding that when he visited the hospital he had seen a number of weapons that patients had made out of various objects but no “one seemed to be concerned.”
“It is in such a state that one cannot help but feel hopeless,” he admitted, while emphasising that patients cannot be helped in such conditions.
The minister also said the old building in the compound, which would have been used in the past, should be taken over by the heritage society instead of being left to rot.
He also said that one of the new buildings that was built is a disgrace and that “persons should be brought before the courts for this.”
Norton also said a Regional Health Officer, a position which was held by the Regional Executive Officer (REO), will be appointed. He added that the person has already been identified.
According to him, the present occupant of the position has not been doing anything and is still “clamouring for the job.” He said the new candidate is well qualified for the job, although there are some difficulties as the law states that the person should be a medical doctor with a post graduate degree in public health. He added that there are just a few persons that have the qualification and they are working at international agencies.
The minister noted that there are various persons who were being paid and continue to be paid in various sectors who were not performing and who would have to be sent home following investigations, regardless of the accusation of “ethnic cleansing and unfair treatment.”
“Whoever is claiming that they are wrongly treated is being unfair to this government,” the minister charged.
Norton also said he is not happy with the rate at which changes are being made but added that the government must do the “correct thing.” He said investigations have been launched so that the nation can be told what has happened. “I am appalled at persons still hoping to remain in their jobs…,” the minister said, while adding that there are persons who even though they have long passed the retirement age are still acting in positions.
Norton stressed that persons should be held accountable if they do not perform their jobs, including him. “If I can’t perform, then you know what to do,” he added. (Additional reporting by David Papannah)
