Children’s Hospital in ‘emergency mode’

A faulty air-condition unit and a shortage of doctors have thrust the Children Priority Care (Casualty) Department at the Children’s Paediatric Hospital, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex into emergency mode. This took effect on Friday and may continue until December 31, since several doctors at the Paediatric Hospital are on leave. The now understaffed Casualty Department is being manned by two doctors, one of whom had to be called out to duty from the Chaguanas Health Facility. As a result, patients who are critically ill have been receiving medical attention first. A senior doctor on duty described conditions at Casualty as “extremely hot” and “busy.” He said that while the department had not yet received any emergency cases up to late yesterday, among the casualties were children with head injuries and those with epilepsy. “We are trying to see critical patients first. We are not refusing any patients.

It’s just that if we were to receive an emergency patient now which would require the hands of two doctors, it would mean that those in casualty would have to wait some four to six hours before they can be attended to,” the doctor said. He added that the ward was also understaffed with nurses. He said that an average of five doctors usually work a typical eight-hour shift. Several doctors, Sunday Newsday was told, were on no-pay leave due to exams, sick leave and vacation leave. Sources revealed that the faulty air-condition unit had been non-operational for over two months, and a hole in the wall provided some ventilation in the department. However, the hole was blocked recently, and the air-condition unit has not been repaired or replaced. Air-conditioning at the ward is imperative so as to maintain a certain room temperature which would help reduce the spread of bacteria. The Children Priority Care consultant has since written to the hospital administration concerning the unit and the working conditions of the hospital staff and is still awaiting a response.