Need for review of management and facilities at Woodlands Hospital

Jan 12, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor,

In a letter which appeared in the news media on Jan. 4, 2024, Mr. Tony Vieira (Tony) expressed the opinion that the Woodlands Hospital is the best run medical facility in Guyana which contradicts the medical treatment Ms. Ramcharitar received at the hospital last year and which was published in a letter by her daughter in KN on Aug. 21, 2023.

There are probably many conflicting experiences received by patients who were treated at Woodlands over the years. My Wife gave birth there to one of our children and her delivery and after care were as good as could be expected. Recently however, a friend of mine was admitted to the Hospital for an ailment. As the days went by his condition worsened to the extent that his family feared he was heading for the sunset. His son a Medical Doctor in New York (NY) phoned Woodlands and spoke to his Father’s attending Physician. Based on the conservation he concluded that the treatment the father was receiving would have taken him to his after life so he decided to have him discharged from the hospital and flown in a chartered medically equipped plane to a NY hospital. At the NY hospital the father’s illness was correctly diagnosed and he was administered the appropriate treatment . He has since fully recovered from his illness and is now living in Prashad Nagar a few blocks away from Tony’s home.

The medical profession is very complex and the doctors and staff have to be competent in their work through their education, training and work experience. The hospitals have to be equipped with adequate laboratories and equipment such as X-rays, MRI etc. The results from these provide the doctors with information they need before could make proper diagnosis. Therefore, determining a patient’s illness when he/she is admitted to a hospital/clinic is a complex process and doctors need to have the tools necessary for them to make the correct diagnosis. It is because of these preliminary requirements that a hospital/doctor visit is so expensive.

Tony’s letter indicated that he knew a lot about his illness before he went to the clinic/hospital for treatment. He could have probably treated himself if he had the required medication and equipment. However, he should be aware that “there is more in the mortar than the pestle” and his underlying illness may have been more complicated than the COPD he was suffering from and only a thorough examination of his other organs could have so determined. The same would seem to apply in Ms. Ramcharitar’s case whose family apparently knew more about the prescription given to her than the cause for her illness as they kept squabbling about the attending doctors working hours and the type of room she should be admitted to, and on and on. Hospitals do not do rush jobs as they have policies and procedures to follow in the execution of their duties to patients. Therefore, patients or their families should not dictate to the hospital and its staff what they should or should not do when under medical care.

Finally, Tony claimed that he has information that all referrals from the Guyana Public Hospitals were going to a private Sheriff Street Clinic. If this is so, then this sort of arrangement appears to have serious financial, ethical and other issues which the Government should investigate to ensure that its medical employees are not involved in actions with criminal intent. There is also urgent need for a review of the management and operations of all hospitals as well as their facilities to ensure that these institutions are adequately staffed and equipped to provide the services and treatment expected from them.

Yours truly,

Charles Sohan

Charles Sohan, facilities, management, Ms. Ramcharitar, Woodland’s Hospital

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