Only three CT machines operable in public hospitals countrywide

Dec 12, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony has revealed in the National Assembly that there are merely three operable CT machines in public hospitals countrywide, which does not include the Linden Hospital.

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony

Dr. Anthony was at the time responding to a series of questions as to why Lindeners must travel to Georgetown to benefit from the services of a Computerised Tomography scan commonly referred to as CT scan.

The questions were posed by Opposition Parliamentarian, Jermaine Figueira. Dr. Anthony revealed that the CT machines are located at the Georgetown Public Hospital, New Amsterdam Regional Hospital, and the other at Bartica Regional Hospital.

He noted that persons in Region 10 must journey to Georgetown, should they require this diagnostic scan.

“Linden hospital, the persons there will be able to access the scans from Georgetown hospital once there’s a need,” Dr. Anthony said.

Figueira stressed about the burden of travel between Linden and Georgetown. Currently, persons travelling from Georgetown to Linden and vice versa, pay $3,000 for a round trip with a car or $1,400 with a bus.

“Travelling to Georgetown is a challenge for a lot of people, especially with the additional increase in the cost of living.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony noted that several CT machines will be bought and installed in the short term.

The Minister said two of the machines were donated to Guyana from RAD-AID International in 2016 under the previous Coalition Government, but the equipment was never installed.

The minister pointed out that it was in 2020, that the CT scan machines were installed at the Bartica and New Amsterdam hospitals.

The health minister explained, “But Linden Hospital, the persons there will be able to access CT scans from Georgetown Hospital [free of cost] once there is a need for it. I must say that over the next three years, the government is committed to, at least, install about 10 different CT machines in different hospitals across the country. Already, we have given out contracts with the new hospitals that we’re building. Included in the new hospitals are imaging equipment such as CT scans.”

Further, Dr. Anthony highlighted that three biomedical analyzers are at the hospital. A new analyzer was installed there in 2020, “and we installed another one in 2021. There’s a third one that went in this year in September which is now operable.”

In response to the question related to the complement of the medical staff at the Linden Hospital Complex, Dr. Anthony said there are 16 doctors, 130 registered nurses, and 110 nursing assistants.

There are also 13 specialists, two obstetricians/gynaecologists, two internal medicine specialists, two paediatricians, two surgeons, two orthopedic surgeons, one anesthesiologist, one intensivist, and one radiologist.

“We also have a visiting urologist that goes twice per week…these specialists are the ones that we have on the ground. I must say that we have a number of Cuban and Chinese specialists. The Cubans come on the brigade and the Chinese specialists who are also on the Chinese brigade… So, I am very certain that they would be at the hospital operating because we have assigned them there,” the minister added

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