A Su Servicio!

Cuban doctors have been at the service of patients at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital this week, and language is not a problem.

‘A su servicio’ (at your service) best describes Dr Emilio Wood, a neurosurgeon and Dr Ulises Castillo Sanz, a specialist in Internal Medicine when I caught up with them yesterday outside Ward 53, where patients with complications and those who have been transferred from the Intensive Care Unit are warded. The patients and family members were happy to see the welcoming faces of the Cuban doctors and to talk to them about the condition of their relatives. Both Dr Castillo Sanz and Dr Wood praised the work being done by local doctors. He said he is still getting familarised with the “documentation” used for patients and said he is adapting to the system and the medico-legal forms used. He said TT doctors are good in the management of patients. Dr Sanz said they have made him feel welcome and showed solidarity with him. He admitted that the other doctors have been assisting when he cannot understand the Creole spoken by patients. Dr Sanz will spend two weeks at Ward 53 before being sent to work in another area. His colleague Dr Wood said he has assisted in surgery on a patient with a broken spine. He said the Head of the neuro surgery department who led the operation is “very good.”

Five Cuban nurses are working at the ten-bed Intensive Care unit at PoSGH, and two at the Accident and Emergency department. Five other nurses started work at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex yesterday, while two have been assigned to Princes Town District Hospital. They are part of the first batch who arrived in TT on July 24. All of the Cubans, six doctors and 30 nurses should be placed at health facilities by this weekend, a senior Health Ministry official said on Wednesday. The second batch of doctors and nurses are expected to begin work soon. He said they will undergo their English assessment tomorrow followed by two weeks of on-the-job orientation at various health facilities. Their accommodations are still being finalised but the Cubans should be out of The Normandie hotel next week. The official said the doctors will be out to work before the nurses. Several of them are assigned to work in rural areas as the Ministry attempts to reduce the number of people travelling to San Fernando, Port-of-Spain and Chaguanas for treatment.