Our Frontline Worker of the Week is…Dr. Joseph London

Dec 05, 2021 News

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“It was very challenging for patients with chronic diseases, those services were being neglected. For example, surgeries, we had a huge backlog but we managed to clear these up with a team from the US. Almost all of our general and gynecological surgeries were carried out.”

By Vanessa Braithwaite

Kaieteur News – Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many healthcare providers, especially those in the public system, have been going above and beyond the call of duty. Some have done this even as they dealt with uncertainties, financial challenges and public ridicule. Quite a few of them were subjected to infection as they risked their lives daily to help save others.

Despite the challenges, the majority of healthcare workers placed others before themselves and loved ones so they could provide selfless service. Among these valiant health workers is Dr. Joseph London, Medical Superintendent (MS) of the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC). Dr. London supervised scores of healthcare workers who he saw refused to place themselves first during this pandemic. “I don’t think you can express the bravery, the lack of thought for self that was expressed because this was an infectious disease that you weren’t really sure how it was transmitted…it was a disease that had a mortality rate. Health care professionals stepped up, we saw people dealing with the uncertainties and still coming to work,” he told Kaieteur News.
For Dr. London, continuing to provide much needed health care has in fact been “labour of love,” as he continued to serve, even when he lost his mother to COVID-19. In fact, he said the only time off he took, was to attend her funeral. He did not get the chance to grieve the loss of such a close family member as he had agreed to cut vacation time just so he could return to the hospital to manage its clinical affairs.
But seeing his mother lose the battle to COVID-19, he said, was a defining moment. “That was a defining moment for me. She was one of the reasons I came back to Linden and a lot of time I felt as though I had not fulfilled my purpose, like there was something else I should have done, something else I should have said. Also, it gave me intimate knowledge and a feel of how the disease ravages and what it does to families and the helplessness of looking on at someone you care about go through the difficulty of the disease,” he explained.
Following his experience, Dr. London said he gained a renewed perspective on how to manage COVID-19 patients and how to relate to their grieving relatives in a more humane and conscientious manner, so as not to cause them more distress during their grieving period.
Looking back, Dr. London said he is grateful to his mother for her unwavering support during his academic journey to become a highly esteemed doctor. In fact, he said she had motivated him to return to Linden, to fulfill a need for more doctors there.
Dr. London, who was born and raised in Linden, said he always had an interest in science, but more so Environmental Science. After school, he worked for 18 months at the Guyana Revenue Authority, before being invited to apply for a scholarship to study medicine in Cuba. He was successful and departed in 2003 where he successfully completed his course in 2009 and even contributed to the crafting of the first electronic anatomy book at his university. His experience in Cuba was rounded he said, as it enabled him to possess a more down to earth, community perspective on medicine.
Upon his return to Guyana, Dr. London said he worked at several health institutions across the country, before returning to Linden in 2012 in response to a need for doctors there. He served for 18 months as the Doctor-in-Charge and at the time was the only resident doctor at the Kwakwani Hospital where he played an integral role in the hospital’s infrastructural advancement. There he said, he realised that there was a great need for surgical skills in hinterland regions, since at that time surgeons were non-nationals and they were stationed at Linden. This placed residents of Kwakwani at a disadvantage and this inspired Dr. London to apply for the surgery programme at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). After successfully completing the course for four years, Dr. London returned to Linden in 2017 where he worked until he became the head of the general surgeon department. In 2019, he was confirmed Medical Superintendent. “Coincidentally that was just before the pandemic started, before this job was just clerical (work)…but when that pandemic came, that pandemic put everything on its head and at the same time, it placed a magnifying glass on the logistics of hospital running, everything had to run to perfection. Supply chain, management of resources, delivery of services, coordination of departments, staff movement and allocation of staff and because it was a new disease and information was constantly evolving, it was challenging,” he said.
He is grateful however that he was involved in crafting policies and protocols as a member of the various multi-disciplinary and emergency health committees, which saw Region 10 pioneering many of the measures that were later adopted countrywide. What was most challenging for him as the MS, was balancing managing COVID-19 care and other medical services at the hospital.
During that time, he said, “it was very challenging for patients with chronic diseases, those services were being neglected. For example, surgeries, we had a huge backlog but we managed to clear these up with a team from the US. Almost all of our general and gynecological surgeries were carried out,” he said.
As MS, he said, he will continue to work with the vibrant, cohesive management team to transform LHC as the ideal healthcare tourism destination, which will take the burden off of the GPHC. Creating an impact, he said, is what is most important to him and for the rest of his career he will ensure the values instilled in him by his mother will be experienced by every patient he comes into contact with

 

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