Redirecting our attention

Jan 26, 2010 Editorial

The nation is concentrating its efforts on offering its help to Haiti and the contributions so far are more than heartening. The response by the people of Guyana shows that we have not lost our human nature; that we still care.
Indeed, there was no doubt that we cared for others, although at times our behaviour seemed to portray that we had become apathetic. We tended to ignore situations that would have caused some people to demonstrate their abhorrence in no uncertain terms. There were the reports of corruption by people entrusted with public funds to undertake the public good.
Contractors were entrusted with huge sums to undertake projects and they complied with shoddy work. Roads intended for repairs were given a surface job that disappeared either with the first rainfall or with the continued traversing of the roads over a short period. The beneficiaries remained silent at the blatant disrespect.
However, the corollary was seen on the streets when brazen robbers struck simple people. Those in the vicinity responded with alacrity, often leading to the apprehension of the culprit. Sometimes there was some exuberance to the point that the culprit was glad to see the police.
But for all this there are situations in the nation that beg attention. The most recent cases surfaced in our hospitals. There have been reports of pregnant mothers calling out to nurses for help only to have those calls ignored. Some of the expectant mothers died and the investigation in at least one case revealed that there was a lack of attention on the part of the medical staff.
More recently, this time at the country’s largest referral hospital there was the case of a sick man falling off the bed. It matters not that this man is a criminal. The fact is that he became sick and needed medical attention. Eyewitness accounts are that the man was left on the floor and had to be helped by visitors to the hospital, one of whom recorded the episode.
The people at the centre of this atrocity live in this society and some of them have taken an oath to render to the sick. In the olden days, in keeping with that oath, many responded to crises, often leaving their homes when they did not have to.
A case in point was the reaction of nurses out of Guyana who now live in the United States. When the disaster struck on September 11, 2001, many were off duty but they quickly donned their uniforms and reported for duty. Some had just got home but they simply turned around without being called. It just shows that the milk of human kindness flows through their veins
So, one must wonder at what might have gone wrong in the case of those currently serving in the local medical institutions. They at some time or the other must have had relatives who became ill and needed medical attention. They must have seen human suffering at first hand. How then can they ignore a suffering person in a medical institution in which they serve?
In the case at the Georgetown Public Hospital the authorities rather than scold or penalize the nurses on duty, took their spite out on the patient. Word is that they evicted him from the hospital for calling in the media. This man had contracted malaria and without treatment, would have died. The hospital simply dumped him on the Night Shelter which in turn hired a taxi and dumped him on the police.
As fate would have it, the police simply returned him to hospital, but one must now wonder at the treatment he would have received on his return.
We are aware that policemen are reluctant to enter the Georgetown Public Hospital for fear of victimization. One of their ranks had used buckshot on some protesting nurses in 1999. The Hippocratic Oath and the Florence Nightingale Pledge must have lost their meaning.
We know that there are seminars and lectures designed to make the practicing professionals better people. We also know that the political directorate that governs the hospital threaten and vow to ensure that professionalism remains the order of the day. Sad to say, this seems to be so much hot air because the reports keep piling up.
How can a doctor offer a sick suspect in police custody a cursory examination without seeking to ascertain his identity? We are focusing on helping the needy in Haiti. We must also focus on those things to make life better for those whom we serve and care.

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