‘We’re not going to take him back, the house is too small’

Jan 27, 2017 News

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– Relatives of abandoned senior citizen tell GPHC officials

A new year has started, but old practices are yet continuing, particularly when it comes

to the abandonment of elderly folks at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
The most recent case of abandonment is that of 72-year-old Winston Williams.
According to Medical Social Worker attached to the GPHC, Clayton Newman, Williams was on Monday brought to the Emergency Unit of the GPHC, reportedly by a male relative.
After attending to the man for minor aches and pains, doctors were able to deduce that there was no need for Williams to be admitted. But when attempts were made to share this development with the relative, he was nowhere to be found.
“Mr. Williams came to the hospital for back pain and weakness, nothing more, but when you look at him you can see that he was neglected…he was in an unkempt state,” Newman related as he pointed out that what seems to be the norm, is that relatives are deliberately ill-treating the elders so that they can have a reason to have them admitted and subsequently abandon them.
“They want them to look weak and malnourished, and that has been the case for most of them that we have in our care.”
Information offered by the relative upon Williams’ arrival at the Emergency Unit included a Hadfield Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown address and a telephone. While the telephone number seems to be an authentic one, Newman said that efforts will be made to verify the address.
When an initial attempt was made to contact the man’s relatives by way of telephone, Newman said that the response was not very encouraging. Although staffers at the GPHC have time and again witnessed the abandonment of elderly persons, Newman said that the reason offered by a relative who accepted the call could easily be placed among the most appalling.
“The relative told us ‘we are not going to take him back, because the house is too small!’ They actually said that they don’t have space for him anymore, and that we can find a place for him and the best place to put him is the Palms (Geriatric Home) because they are not coming back for him,” Newman said.
Accommodating Mr. Williams at the GPHC, according to Newman, will essentially mean that the hospital will have to give up yet another bed meant for an actual sick patient. This is in light of the fact that the Palms has reportedly maxed out its capacity to accommodate males.
“We have patients at Emergency waiting to be admitted to the ward too,” Newman said, as he revealed that several attempts have been made to implore Williams’ relatives to accept him back home.
“When we call now they are answering and just cutting off when they realise it’s someone from the hospital. Apparently once they hear a male voice from a strange number they are not accepting the call anymore,” Newman disclosed.
Williams has not been talking much about his relatives. In fact Newman divulged, “I asked him if he was ready to go home and he simply said ‘when I’m invited’…apparently he knows that they don’t want him.”
But according to Newman, “Mr. Williams is no stranger to the emergency unit. He has been in and out and apparently this time they have found an avenue to really leave him.”
In addition to Williams, the hospital currently has a total of 10 elderly males that have been abandoned there. Another senior “resident” of the hospital passed away Tuesday night.
While catering to the every need of these patients is already a burden to the GPHC, Newman said that once they pass away the hospital is often tasked with also taking the responsibility of a burial. This, however, is not before efforts are made to reach out to relatives.
According to Newman, it has been found that many cases of abandonment are linked to dysfunctional relationships within the home.
“I think families have to focus more on forgiving and healing, otherwise this cycle will keep continuing. Many relatives are carrying around this baggage…the hurt of what a father or uncle might have done to them years ago, and they see abandoning them as retribution,” Newman speculated.
Another GPHC official underscored that “It is cruel when you can leave your loved one in the hospital. People usually cry out about the treatment that they get at the hospital, but these are relatives who are being so cruel to their own blood by just dropping them off and not even looking back.”
“We really don’t have the space and they really need to take care of their relatives,” the official emphasised.
According to Newman, instead of being engaged in the business of helping to save lives, some nurses are instead forced to be engaged in palliative care, since the hospital cannot remove the abandoned individuals unless a suitable alternative is found.

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