Following a December 13, 2021 Stabroek News report highlighting doctors’ complaints that the Leonora Hospital was short of staff, this newspaper has learnt that a doctor was promptly transferred in what will be seen as an attempt to target persons who are suspected of providing information on the situation at the institution.
Such a move would offend the tenets of whistleblower legislation which this government has said that it supports. On Tuesday, Regional Health Officer (RHO) Dr Erica Forte confirmed that a doctor was transferred from Leonora Hospital to the West Demerara Regional Hospital. Without going into much detail relating to the transfer, the RHO said that doctors in the Region are on rotation.
“The doctor was transferred from Leonora Hospital to West Dem(erara) because they are on rotation. It was not because of no article. (Health Minister) Dr (Frank) Anthony already released the numbers from the hospital and we are not short-staffed there. In fact, the doctors there are saying they did not speak to you (Stabroek News) and are dissatisfied with the report,” Dr Forte said.
After the Stabroek News article headlined `Doctors complain of Leonora Hospital being ‘severely short staffed’” was published, Dr Forte and District Medical Officer Dr Tandika Smith met with the doctors at Leonora Hospital to investigate who leaked information. The female doctor was promptly transferred and according to other personnel at the hospital, they are now even more fearful of being victimised.
“The RHO has already reassigned one doctor to another hospital to work. They give one doctor here at Leonora a letter to move. The place is short already and still moving doctors. Our next step will be to resign from government work and start a private practice,” one of the medical professionals reported last week Tuesday.
When asked about the meeting, Dr Forte confirmed that she did meet with the staff at the hospital. Additionally, the RHO explained that she first met with the Administrative staff of both the Leonora and West Demerara Hospital “to resolve the issues.”
“I met with the doctors and everyone is saying that they did not speak to any media. I discussed (with the Administrative staff) how best we can have the issues resolved. We are looking to have staffing restructured and no one seems to have any problems with it,” she added.
However, Stabroek News was told that the hospital has one doctor working there and a few others would work on call at the institution after they completed shifts at various Health Centres within the district. The medical staff are still complaining of the heavy load they are made to endure while simultaneously expressing worry over possible victimization.
“I cannot tell the doctors not to talk to anyone, it is their right but I can say that the doctor that was transferred reported to me, and she was in my office just today, that she is happy to come this side. We are working with them to have the issue resolved,” the RHO said on Tuesday.
Should do more work
Last week, Health Minister Dr Anthony denied reports that the hospital was severely short-staffed saying that the doctors should “do more work over there.”
Anthony told the Department of Public Information (DPI) report, on Monday last week, that “each doctor’s patient load is very low so I am not sure what the complaints are about because from these numbers, the patient load is extremely low. We should get them to do more work over there.”
Doctors speaking on the condition of anonymity had said that the hospital only has three doctors with one being on annual leave and the other two having to cover all the services being offered at the medical institution.
They had also alleged that the RHO refused to adequately staff the hospital while District Medical Officer Dr Smith refused to interact with patients and lend assistance. Dr Forte has since denied the claims saying that the hospital has more than enough staff while Dr Smith refused to comment on the issue.
According to the DPI report, the Health Minister said that the Leonora Cottage Hospital is currently being upgraded to function as a smart hospital through a partnership between the Pan-American Health Organisation and the United Kingdom Department for International Development.
As a result of that, Anthony said that services have been constrained and that the institution is operating below scale which results in a lower patient load. He countered the doctors’ claims by saying there are seven doctors assigned to the hospital and they are working there on a shift system.
He reported that for November the Accident and Emergency and Outpatient Departments saw 753 and 698 patients, respectively adding that each department saw about 22 cases per day.
After refusing to speak with Stabroek News, Dr Smith told DPI that “the doctors provide outpatient, emergency and of course, on-calls which is done after 4, so as it is, we are not short of staff in any way. We will continue to deliver services to the population and of course, we do it to the best of our ability.”
The doctors have also been warned against speaking to the press about issues at the hospital.
