SFGH doctors aim at reducing surgery backlog

WITH Operating Theatre (OT) nurses of the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) reporting for duty following a two-day protest, a senior management official at the Hospital told Newsday that emphasis was being placed on rescheduling the elective surgeries cancelled during the protest action. On Monday and Tuesday, the majority of nurses working in the nine theatres failed to report to work  after a disagreement with a consultant anaesthetist over an alleged incident which occurred with a patient in the recovery room last week. Some 15 operations were cancelled on Monday, while 23 elective surgeries were cancelled on Tuesday.

In an interview yesterday, South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) Chairman Imtiaz Ahamad said the Hospital’s OT committee met behind closed doors on Wednesday to discuss the “ways and means” of rescheduling cancelled surgeries. He said alot of attention was being directed at the issue with a view of having these surgeries performed at the earliest time possible. “Even if this means working overtime during the week or on weekends,” Ahamad said. Meanwhile, calls to SFGH Medical Chief of Staff (MCS) Dr Colin Furlonge, to confirm whether  normalcy had returned to the southern hospital went unanswered after he directed his secretary to inform Newsday that he, “was not speaking to reporters.”