Latest update March 26th, 2026 12:30 AM
‘They sent me home with pain tablets’ – 26-year-old says Diamond Hospital missed lung infection that nearly killed her
…forced to seek private care before being diagnosed with pneumonia
(Kaieteur News) – A 26-year-old woman of Grove, East Bank Demerara, says she is lucky to be alive after doctors at the $6.6 billion Diamond Regional Hospital allegedly sent her home with painkillers, despite her showing clear symptoms of a serious lung infection.
The young lady finally receiving appropriate treatment at the public health facility.
The young woman, whose name is being withheld, told Kaieteur News that she visited the hospital on October 12 complaining of sharp chest pain near her left ribcage and difficulty breathing. She said a nurse took her complaints and sent her for a heart test. “When I go into the doctor, she say that your heart is healthy and she checked my breathing with the thing around her neck. After that she said everything sound okay and it could be kidney stone. She just give me a paper and tell me go to the pharmacy and collect some medication and that was it,” the resident explained.
The recently commissioned $6.6B Diamond Regional Hospital
Even though the doctor informed her that she may have kidney stones, the young woman said no further tests were conducted. Still in pain, the woman left the hospital with the two recommended pain relievers. A day later, the young lady’s symptoms felt worse, forcing her to visit a private clinic. “When I went he did some blood work and an X-ray and he see that my lungs was cloudy and he gave me a referral to go back to Diamond. He couldn’t do more tests because he only had a limited amount of things he could do. He didn’t give me a diagnosis. He just said my lungs look kind of cloudy and that I should go to the hospital immediately with it because it could be fluid,” she said.
The pain killers that were prescribed for the young lady.
In even greater pain and shortness of breath, the woman took the referral slip to the Diamond Regional Hospital where a number of additional tests were finally administered to determine the cause of her condition. “The same day (October 13) they admit me and diagnose me. They say it was community acquired pneumonia and some pneumonia effusion. The day when I was there, I overheard one of the nurses saying that they are short of staff,” she recalled.
The young lady said she spoke with a friend at the hospital who complained of a shortage of staff. “Them always short of staff so they hurry up to treat the next patient,” she detailed. Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition that affects the lungs. According to research, it can be deadly if left untreated. The infection can spread, and in severe cases, lead to breathing difficulties, organ damage, or other serious health problems.
This newspaper understands that the young woman was later treated with antibiotics and other suitable drugs after she was admitted at the Diamond Hospital. She fears that her health could have taken a turn for the worse had she not paid for private health care.
“If I didn’t go to see that doctor at his clinic I don’t know what could have happened to me because they failed to do the right tests when I visited first. They sent me home with pain tablets and when I come back home I feel so disappointed because the pain aint going away and the breathing was getting more hard. I start cry because of how I was feeling and they didn’t have no time with me. They just treat me like if what I said didn’t matter. They just send me away without even doing a simple X-ray or anything,” she said.
Moreover, she said noted, “I could only imagine what could have happened if I didn’t have money to go see a private doctor. What about people who can’t afford to see a private doctor? What becomes of them in this country? If you go to a public hospital, they supposed to treat you better and make sure they do all the necessary tests because in my case, even if she said it was kidney stone, at least she could have like run some more tests or something instead of just sending me away. It’s like they didn’t have any time with what I was complaining about and that shouldn’t be!”
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One thought on “‘They sent me home with pain tablets’ – 26-year-old says Diamond Hospital missed lung infection that nearly killed her”
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
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Sir. Ronald Sanders
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Government just wants citizens to know they have shiny NEW hospitals,
updated medical equipment to treat patients in an emergency. BUT, what
is lacking-caring medical personnel who is qualified, can properly diagnose
simple thing as pneumonia instead of “guestimate” their way. Pneumonia
is deadly when not caught in time and treated. “Pain” medication for this
as treatment ? Kidney stones ? This is all “guesswork” by those individuals
working as doctors.. Only- if they were just trained properly. “Community
Acquired Pneumonia” ?