There are some things you see or experience in life that you never forget. For me one of these is the sight of former Speaker of the House of Assembly Burton Hinds sitting in a wheelchair in a corner by the entrance to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) (which today leads to the pharmacy) waiting for someone to collect him.
When I saw him there my thought was that no matter how prominent one becomes in Barbados, all of us will end up at the QEH.
Though that was at least 30 years ago, those sentiments have continued to inform my intense feelings about the QEH and its future. It certainly informed my keen interest in health journalism and my attitude to the policies being pursued by the Government of the day to the institution.
I fervently believe that because of the integral role the QEH plays, we need to get it right there.
A number of recent incidents demonstrate what the public continues to endure at the QEH. I will mention a couple that I am personally aware of.
A few weeks ago a professional in his 40s was taken to the Accident & Emergency Department a Thursday night because he had symptoms which suggested he may be having a stroke. He was sent home and told to take some aspirin.
He returned a few hours later in a worsened condition. By the time he was seen again and sent onto a ward it was around 10 a.m. the Saturday morning. By then he had lost the use of his right hand and could not speak properly.
As the supervising editor for the Dear Christine column I saw a letter last Monday from a woman complaining about being unable to get a mammogram at the QEH since February. As that was eight months ago, and to ensure the authenticity of the complaint, I contacted the hospital.
I was told officially: “Improvements to, and an increase in capacity will enable us to take aggressive steps to reduce the number of cases within the shortest time frame.
Cases being dealt with include both routine and high-risk cases. We encourage persons to contact the Radiology Department at 436-6450.” That was official speak admitting that the QEH has a serious backlog for such investigations and are trying to improve things.
I can go on giving examples, but I think I made my point. There are severe service delivery challenges at the QEH from emergency cases to routine investigations to cancellations of surgeries.
Why I raise this matter on the QEH now is because that in all the fears over the deteriorating economy, very little is being said about health care apart from the need for there to be cuts in spending.
While I understand the need for Government to rein in its expenses, when it comes to health care, cutting spending often means the reduction of services to the average person.
The hospital administration needs to ensure that those who can pay, and those who agreed to pay to get service there, meet their obligations. They have already started this but they need to be more aggressive.
The Government should also consider user fees where minimal costs are paid for the delivery of service. Here pensioners, children, the disabled, those on welfare and those suffering from certain chronic diseases should be exempted.
The idea is that those who can afford to pay for service should do so, and if they can’t the social welfare officers at the hospital would get involved.
Government also needs to make a decision on whether they are going to build a new hospital or not. The Owen Arthur administration undertook an extensive study and it was determined that a new hospital would cost just over $600 million.
Since the change in Government in January 2008, there has been no definitive word on this. Why the dithering? It is clear Barbados needs a purpose-built, modern, fully-equipped tertiary level medical facility. The patching up of the old QEH is expensive and unsustainable.
Remember the old Hilton Hotel? It was unsustainable to keep repairing to meet the necessary upgrades for that market, so it was imploded.
We can’t do that to the QEH so we need to build a new one. And with all hands on board, the money would be found. This is not a political issue but a national one.
It needs to be addressed urgently as all Barbadians will be the losers if it is not.
Sanka Price is the SATURDAY SUN Editor. Contact him at [email protected]
