Security beefed up to curb incidents of violence at GPHC’s A&E Dept

Jun 23, 2024 News

Head of the Accident and Emergency Department at the Georgetown Public Hospital, Dr. Zulfikar Bux

Kaieteur News – Security is being beefed up at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) Accident and Emergency (A&E) department to curb the incidents of violence that have raised concerns for health workers attached to the institution.

Head of the Accident and Emergency Department at the Georgetown Public Hospital, Dr. Zulfikar Bux, told reporters during a press conference hosted at GPHC on Wednesday that interpersonal violence is happening more frequently at the hospital.

“Interpersonal violence is now being brought into institutions…we’ve had experiences over the years but my concern is that they are happening more frequently now,” Dr. Bux said at a GPHC press conference on Wednesday.

According to Dr. Bux, for the month of June, the hospital has had six cases of interpersonal violence, “…Whether its abuse of staff and abuse in terms of getting close with being physical with staff.”

Dr. Bux said the health workers are growing increasingly fearful for their safety and well-being.

He noted that just last week an assailant of a stabbing incident visited the department, hoping to continue attacking his victim who had gone there for treatment.

Additionally, the doctor said there are other cases within the past two months that involved patients seeking treatment with weapons in their possession.

Dr. Bux noted that the patient was stabbed twice came to the emergency department and the assailants came into the department to continue the course of action they started.

“They came into the department and they pulled out a knife and actually attempted to stab him. It did cause a small laceration, the entire department had to take siege because it was quite a few attackers and unfortunately, the victim had to run outside to seek cover outside of the institution,” he said.

The doctor warned that the A&E department is a high-stress area which deals with patients in need of immediate medical attention.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GPHC, Robbie Rambarran said that there are persons who would come in as patients and have weapons on them and these would be lodged with security. He noted that there are also instances of persons accompanying patients with firearms and other weapons on their person.

However, speaking of interventions to curb these issues, he said that the hospital has been working along with a private security firm for some time while the institution also has its own security.

While indicating the CEO said that security will be beefed up, he said that a lot more hand-held scanners and scanners at the entrances of the facility will be put in place.

According to him, healthcare workers are receiving training to better de-escalate situations and improve their public relations abilities. Still, he believes it is not acceptable for healthcare workers to face verbal and physical violence.

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concern, Dr. Zulfikar Bux, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Head of the Accident and Emergency Department at the Georgetown Public Hospital, reporters

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