THE Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) continues to battle with minimizing the waiting time of patients visiting the Accident & Emergency (A&E) Department.
And yesterday the Barbados International Business Association Charity presented the hospital with four vital signs machines. Valued at more than $90 000, the machines will be used to assist in the treatment of patients, minimizing the wait in the A&E.
The new monitors bring the total number of vital signs machine at the QEH to ten. The A&E Department sees between 40 000 and 45 000 patients per year and all of them use the machine.
According to Dr Chaynie Williams, consultant and head of A&E, between ten and 12 machines would adequately service the hospital and reduce the waiting time.
“Our main challenge is waiting time. We are trying a series of different things to cut down our waiting time. The majority of our patients, about 80 per cent of them, are actually urgent, so the other 20 per cent we are trying to divert.
“The few [vital signs machines] that we have are worked very hard and stretched throughout the department, so these will improve efficiency,” she said.
In handing over the machines, Lisl Lewis, head trustee of the charity, said the international business sector was one of the most important sectors to the Barbados economy and she was “very glad” it could donate the machines after a year of raising funds to help improve health care on the island.
QEH chief executive officer Dexter James said the four machines were critical to the A&E’s operations.
The vital signs machines are used to measure heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, oxygen saturation, and respiratory rate, among others. (MM)
