Hope at Mount Hope? I think not

THE EDITOR: I read a letter to the Editor written by Queeley Richardson, thanking Mt Hope for a job well done. My father has been at Mount Hope Hosptial for the past four months now and no one seems to know what is wrong with him.

His heart is/was enlarged, he has fluid in his lungs and the list goes on. What causes him to have these symptoms no one knows. Meanwhile he is on heavy medication to help him get better. Get better from what? No one knows what’s wrong with him. I know every one has a different sickness but at least they are aware of their diagnosis. I remember my mother telling me that my father had to be taken to Mount Hope after a follow-up visit to the clinic. When he was attended to at the clinic, they told him to go straight to the emergency room at Mount Hope Hospital as he was having problems breathing and as his heart was enlarged. Now, I do not know if the clinic or Mount Hope has fax machines or telephones, but I remember my mother telling me that Mount Hope Hospital sent my father back to the clinic because he did not have a letter authorising him to go directly to the emergency room. Can you believe this — my father in a car travelling from Chaguanas to Mount Hope, fighting for his life mind you, only to be sent back to Chaguanas to get a letter. Couldn’t Mount Hope have made a simple telephone call to the clinic in Chaguanas and have them fax this letter over?

I thank God that nothing serious happened to my father. In this day and age I think certain procedures should be carried through in a more professional manner, especially when lives depend on them. Today, 4/9/03 my father is at home, still without a diagnosis, still dependant on an oxygen tank, no one knows what is wrong with him, other than what he feels. So, is there hope in Mount Hope, I think not.

MELISSA HARPER
Port-of-Spain