Latest update February 4th, 2025 9:06 AM
Family raises concerns over patient care at COVID-19 Hospital after retired nurse dies
Kaieteur News – Family members of a 56-year-old retired nurse who died at the COVID-19 Hospital on Thursday are now raising concerns over the treatment of patients at the facility.
Kaieteur News understands that the nurse, Vanessa Maynard, who served in the medical field for 38 years, endured a horrible experience at the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal before she lost her battle with COVID-19. This newspaper was told that the nurse had been battling diabetes and, according to reports, had not received the COVID-19 vaccine at the time of her demise.
Dead, Nurse Vanessa Maynard
During a press conference hosted by the Leader of the Opposition (Ag), Roysdale Forde, on Friday, Maynard’s daughter, Keneisha Carryl, and other relatives shared details of the nurse’s experience up to the time of her death. According to the family, Nurse Maynard was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital on Sunday August 29, 2021, after feeling unwell. A number of tests were conducted at the hospital and the following day, the nurse was transferred to the Liliendaal Hospital. At the time of the transfer, the patient was reportedly dealing with a foot ulcer that had to be taken care of. However when she arrived at the hospital, nurses took more than a day to clean the infected area.
After waiting for so long, Nurse Maynard reportedly told the staff at the Liliendaal Hospital that she would change the wound dressing herself if provided with the gauze and the iodine. “She told them, I am a nurse, just bring the gauze, just bring the iodine, I’ll do it myself, because when she opened the bandage, she saw that it was green. It had become infected,” the daughter said.
Nurse Maynard spent approximately 11 days at the COVID-19 facility before she succumbed to the illness. Her relatives told the news conference that she was not being attended to regularly and as a result she had resorted to paying the nurses to do small favours including warming her food and taking her to the bathroom.
“She was a nurse, so naturally, once she was admitted into that hospital she started observing the inept care and treatment that was being given to her and other patients in the facility. Every day, she would send us voice notes in real time just keeping us abreast,” another relative of the dead woman related.
Meanwhile, in a statement on behalf of the Opposition APNU+AFC Coalition, Forde blamed the entire episode on the government’s ad hoc plan to combat the spread of COVID-19 and reduce its impact on the population. “We call, once again, on the PPP/C regime to stop, take stock and change course. There needs to be an inclusive national approach to the fight against COVID-19. Continued insularity and an exclusionary approach will only result in more cases and more deaths. The situation is unacceptable and unnecessary,” he said.
Forde called for a full independent investigation into the death of Nurse Maynard and for her family and relatives to receive the justice they deserve. “I firstly extend, on behalf of myself and family, and all of Guyana, deepest condolences to the family and relatives of Ms. Maynard for this unspeakable loss. This is a time of immense grief and pain for them and we will keep them in our prayers and offer them whatever support we can to ensure that they are able to navigate this harrowing period,” Forde said in the statement.
Further, he stressed that while the pain of the loss of Nurse Maynard may, with time, dissipate a little, it will never go away. “Nurse Maynard’s legacy will live on in her two children, family, relatives and the many patients that she cared for,” he added.
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