A TROUBLING DEVELOPMENT

There were only three sterile packs remaining when the decision was taken to cancel all previously scheduled surgery. That this situation should have arisen, and worse that it should have taken place because a reported industrial dispute in the hospital’s engineering department had provoked a delay in the packaging and delivery of sterile packs to the theatres, is cause for concern.

Adding to the hospital’s problems was the lack of steam in the institution’s central sterilised department with the result that surgeons had no sterilised equipment and linen to perform operations. And as an article in yesterday’s Newsday pointed out — the hospital’s elective surgery lists re the Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Paediatrics, General Surgery, Orthopaedics and Ear, Nose and Throat Departments had to be cancelled.

A thorough investigation is demanded as, had there been a sudden rush of emergency cases, there was the possibility that patients could have died because critically needed surgery could not have been performed at the hospital. The management of the San Fernando General Hospital must be held responsible for this troubling development. Why was there not an adequate supply of nitrous oxide and sterile packs at the start of the dispute? In addition, why were the items not sought from other hospitals when their level of availability began to drop to the point where a crisis existed?

But having permitted this disgraceful situation to develop why did the hospital not take what should have been seen as needed corrective action when it was as clear as the proverbial pikestaff that only a few sterile bags remained, clearly no where near enough for an institution as important to San Fernando and the South as the San Fernando General Hospital? Frighteningly worse, an already bad situation was compounded further, when with two of the three available sterile bags used, there was only one left for use had there been several emergency cases.

It, clearly, can not be held to have been enough for the Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Austin Trinidade, to have announced on Wenesday that the problem had been rectified and that the situation would have been back to normal from yesterday. We have no doubt that Dr Trinidade will put mechanisms in place, if he has not already done so, to prevent a repeat of what has occurred. Nonetheless, he should explain to a concerned public why this situation at the San Fernando General Hospital had been allowed to reach crisis point and what procedures were being implemented to ensure that the problem would not recur. Who was responsible? Has the person or persons been held accountable?

Had there been a sudden rush of persons needing emergency surgery including, for example, vehicular accident cases, individuals who had been shot or otherwise seriously wounded, and the theatres of nearby private hospitals were unable to accommodate referrals, we shudder to think of what could have been the possible outcome.