Linden Hospital sends its laundry to GPHC to dry and sanitise

Sep 04, 2022 News

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– never had CT scanner, X-ray machine works ‘on and off’

By Kiana Wilburg

Kaieteur News – Following an assessment that was conducted on July 6, 2022, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said it observed that the Linden Hospital Complex is plagued by several challenges regarding environmental management and safety, including infectious and liquid waste management. The health institution is also hampered in the delivery of quality services due to the lack of established safety procedures, systems and basic equipment.

In its August 2022 report, the IDB said the Linden Hospital, as a result of the foregoing challenges, is unable to properly deliver the full contingent of obstetric, neonatal and child health services while highlighting that it does not even have a burn unit to attend to accident patients.

Delving into the state of affairs at the institution, IDB officials said in its almost 200-pages report that the Linden Hospital Complex consists of old and new structures. The complex houses an old hospital which is a single-storey structure built in 1925. At that time, it was designed to accommodate 75 beds, with X-Ray, laboratory, dispensary facilities, and an operating room. Due to the growth of the population and the increasing demand for the hospital’s services, the new Linden Hospital was constructed in 2009, with financing from the bank and Government.

Further to this, the IDB said the complex handles referrals from all health centres and hospitals from Regions 8, 9, and 10, which have a combined population of approximately 74,000 people. Additionally, the hospital has treated an average of 3,900 patients a year over the past five years, and anticipates a 125% increase in the average inpatient load in the next five to 10 years. Such a forecast therefore, underscores the need for the hospital to undergo major upgrades.

Toward this end, the IDB highlighted that one area which needs to be fixed is the laundry department at the hospital complex which has an industrial scale washer and dryer. While the washer is in working condition, the dryer has been out of commission for a while. The bank said the hospital therefore has to send its laundry to the GPHC to dry and sanitise using their industrial dryer. The lending agency said this is time consuming and “is of questionable hygienic practice.”

It said, “This practice is not sustainable and therefore there needs to be urgent intervention to remedy this issue. The expansion of the complex will see a higher turnover of patients and therefore there will be need for an onsite and working laundry equipment.”

Further to this, the bank pointed out that Linden Hospital’s incinerator stopped working in 2020, and as a result, all sharp waste is stored in barrels and transported to the GPHC for disposal twice a year. The IDB said this current arrangement is not effective and involves utilising resources that may otherwise be beneficial to other departments.

The IDB also highlighted the absence of a Fire Prevention and Protection Plan. It said, “Fire prevention and protection has been subsumed into the hospital’s Occupational, Safety, and Health plan where training is executed in the first and third quarter yearly. The hospital has visible fire prevention equipment and fire points throughout the hospital compound. While there is training being conducted twice a year, there is need for a formal comprehensive fire prevention and protection plan to outline clear Standard Operating Procedures in case of a fire.” This it said will contribute to an all-inclusive approach to fire prevention and protection.

During the site visit to Linden Hospital Complex and a subsequent virtual meeting, the IDB said it met with Mr. Rudolph Small, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ms. Sharon Joseph, Occupational Safety and Health Officer, Mr. Enoch Hooper, Maintenance Superintendent, and Ms Ashley Barakat, Environmental and Social Specialist, Ministry of Health.

It also met with the Guyana Nurses Association – Linden Chapter which is in charge of the day care facility at the complex. Kaieteur News understands that the stakeholders expressed interest in the facilities being upgraded through a US$160M line of credit from the bank. Importantly, only US$48M of that sum would be used for improvements to the Linden Hospital Complex along with New Amsterdam Hospital and Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

The health officials also made key recommendations to the IDB about the expansion and rehabilitative works they would wish to see take place. Below is their proposed list as noted in the report.

1. Maximise maternity and child healthcare. This will involve the construction of a new building to house maternal and child health services. This will increase the current 15 beds in the maternity ward, which cannot meet the current demand, to at least 30 beds. In addition, there is need for two private rooms which currently do not exist.
2. Increase and expand the A&E department to include a new emergency operating theatre and dedicated waiting area. This is especially important to cater for accidents which may occur along the new Linden to Mabura roadway.
3. Expand the radiology department, including installation of full-service diagnostic imaging equipment such as CT scan, ultrasound scan, X-ray machines, cardiographs, and echocardiograms, among others.
4. Construct a new maternal and child healthcare building which includes a neonatal ward, maternity clinic, and operating theatre. This requires the demolition of the old hospital building.
5. Expand the current surgical suite to from one operating room to two, one dedicated to laparoscopic surgery, and procure additional equipment to provide better healthcare. This will absorb some of the patient load from GPHC and increase access to specialised healthcare within the region.
6. Expand the ICU from a three-bed facility to a 10-bed facility.
7. Expand the obstetrics department.
8. Expand the laboratory department.
9. Expand the outpatient dressing area.
10. Expand the diabetic foot centre.
11. Improve the waiting areas.

This publication was reliably informed on Saturday that the X-ray machine at the hospital works ‘on and off’.  This, even as the institution is currently in the process of receiving its Health Facility License. It has completed the inspection phase and is currently in the process of receiving and reviewing the inspection report, after which it will move to the next phase in the process.

 

 

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