Mt Hope Hospital bursting at the seams

This was highlighted by health workers when they met with the Commission of Inquiry into the Operation and Delivery of Public Health Care Services at Amphitheatre B, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex yesterday.

Dr Joshua Scipio, clinical director of the dental services at the Dental Hospital, said there had been a tenfold increase in patients since Health Minister John Rahael asked the facility to provide free service. (Prior to this, fees for service were collected by the Regional Health Authority). He told the commission that there are two full-time dentists, one part-time dentist, one part-time specialist and interns who provide "hands" for the polyclinic.

Scipio said letters of referral for patients from health centres are "supposed to be specific in details." However, recent referrals were stating to attend to patients "with dental problems." He said everything used in dentistry was imported.

Scipio said it took eight months to get one package of amalgam (used for fillings) and the Dental Hospital has not received teeth cleaning instruments for two years. He said 25-year-old equipment was in use for which replacement parts were unavailable. Scipio wanted to know the status of the Dental Hospital in relation to the University of the West Indies and the Regional Health Authority.

He said the hospital was "in the middle," and no one was looking after it.

Marsha Metivier, radiographer II, said the number of people accessing X-ray service has quadrupled. There are 45 members in the radiology department, including clerical staff. There has been a high demand for CT scans (which became available in April) and MRIs (which became available in August). Metivier said "everyone from everywhere" wanted a CT or MRI. There is now a six-week waiting list for a CT scan, and three-months for MRI.

Screening of new appointments for physiotherapy has increased from three days to "within two weeks." There is a backlog and not enough equipment, said the senior physiotherapist.

Avalon Charles, acting manager of pharmacy service, said outpatients’ drug supply has been reduced from two months to two weeks because the pharmacy cannot supply all the medication since it began "seeing a larger population."

The manager of the medical Records section told the commissioners that since the computer system crashed in 1999, a manual system was implemented. This increased the demands on the human resources and the record-keeping process had become "tedious." Storage has also become an issue. There are 40 staff members, but this was described as inadequate.