Parliamentary team discovers health services woes on West Demerara

Jun 16, 2013 News

Even as the Ministry of Health continues to make public statements about its sustained quest to improve health care services in Guyana, it seems as if citizens are a far cry away from being offered anything more than just decent health care.
This reality was most recently highlighted on Friday when the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Economic Services discovered several deficiencies at two West Demerara Hospitals.
The team comprised of chairperson of the committee, Indra Chandarpal who sits in representation of the government and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Members of Parliament, John Adams and Renitta Williams.
At the Leonora Cottage Hospital, there were discoveries of a massive drug shortage despite a huge quantity of expired drugs. There were filthy laboratories, beds without linen and rooms filled with broken light bulbs. At the West Demerara Regional Hospital even though that institution seems to be having the facilities, lack of proper administration and organization are purported to be the major problem there.
Those discoveries were made when the Sectoral Committee on Social Services sought to observe the services being offered at the visited hospital with intent to make recommendations to improve whatever is lacking.
The Diamond Hospital was supposed to have been visited yesterday but time constraints prevented that visit.
Speaking to Kaieteur News yesterday, Adams disclosed that the team was initially impressed by Leonora Hospital. He said that the environment was “very clean” but there were other issues.
Adams said that the facility at Leonora was out of what he dubbed “basic drugs.” The Member of Parliament said that patients complained of having to take prescriptions elsewhere. They had to buy insulin.
John said that the team was met with an explanation that they haven’t been able to source drugs from the newly constructed Diamond bond because the facility is suffering from shortage of staff.
Adams said that the drug shortage situation is puzzling “because we know we passed enough money in the health budget to fully cover the cost for drug purchases. We have been told that the Diamond bond is short of staff. We don’t know how true that is.”
In light of the shortage of staff, the arrangement was for all needed drugs to be sent from the Diamond Bond to the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) and to have Leonora requisition drugs from the West Dem facility.
But, checks made on Friday revealed that the WDRH only had enough medical supplies to sustain service at that facility.
In addition, even with a drug shortage, the team discovered that literally boxes upon boxes of expired drugs are being stored in what used to the mortuary.
Adams told this publication that officials at the Leonora hospital said that the tons of expired drugs were there since 2008, since when the Cubans were running the hospital.
According to Adams, it was there and then recommended that Hospital management see that the area is cleared. He said that the team recommended that the space be used to facilitate a morgue.
In addition, a number of air conditioning units were found to be not working, and the one in the laboratory was fixed only the day before the visit, Thursday.
As inquires were made into that, it was found that the units were damaged as a result of a power problem at the facility.
The WDRH seemed to have had fewer issues, but chairman of the visiting committee described the emergency department as a junk yard.
Adams told Kaieteur News that there wasn’t a smooth flow in the process from patients being triaged to them actually seeing the doctor. He said, too, that sections weren’t properly demarcated. “They need technical advice on how to set up the department and get things sorted.”
Chandarpal told Kaieteur News yesterday that the situation at the Hospitals is not the fault of either the Health or Local Government Ministers. “It is the workers who have the place in chaos; professionals need to start working in a professional way.
“I can’t begin to tell you, but I hope our visit can result in a change. We gave lots of money for health and we need proper health service.”
Kaieteur News has learnt that Regional Executive Officer for Region Three promised the team that within a month the issues will be rectified
The Committee started works in April and has conducted outreach like this before. Adams told Kaieteur News that other visits are planned for next month.

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Parliamentary team discovers health services woes on West Demerara

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