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alexk
Guest
One hundred and twenty-two patients from the Central Block of the Port-of-Spain General Hospital (PoSGH) have been relocated over the past two days to wards on the North Block of the hospital and the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) and all elective surgeries have been suspended pending further notice.
This was the word from North-West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) CEO Wendy Ali as she oversaw the process.
She told the T&T Guardian: “We are preparing another ward and executing a plan to get the place ready for the re-opening of the Haematology clinic, so there is a lot going on. Work continues apace as we continue to do what we have to do so that we can get back to some state of readiness and building out bed capacity.”
Ali said it was the first time such an exercise had been done.
“I don’t know that anyone ever decanted five floors of a public hospital. It was a great learning experience. We had a Disaster Committee Preparedness plan we put it into action and of course, while we were doing it there was a lot of collaboration and support from external and internal parties.
“I think we did the best that we could in the shortest possible time.”
She said they had a lot of support from the Defence Force, Fire, Prisons and Police Service and it was a great team effort.
Ali said elective surgeries had to be put on hold because they needed to keep the beds for persons who are acutely ill. While the decanting has been completed, she said the process will continue this weekend to bring back up all the services. She commended the doctors and nurses for staying committed to doing what is required in the circumstances.
The T&T Guardian understands Defence Force members assisted with removing beds and other equipment and supplies from the Central Block on Thursday night, as patients were relocated to wards in the North Block.
Yesterday, the NWRHA said the decision to relocate the patients “was taken out of an abundance of caution” to ensure the continued safety of staff, patients and visitors in light of the 6.9 earthquake and in the event of further aftershocks.
The Accident and Emergency (A&E) department remains open and will continue to provide full service.
In the interim, the Haematology clinic has been relocated to the St James Medical Complex and 14 patients from the Gerontology Ward at the St James Medical Complex have been relocated to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.
North Central Regional Health Authority CEO Davlin Thomas said the EWMSC had accepted two tiers of patients. He admitted that the decanting had placed an additional burden on the EWMSC but assured everything was done to ensure the “transition was seamless and excellent.”
However, T&T Registered Nurses Association president Idi Stuart told the T&T Guardian that although they agreed with the decision to decant, “the manner in which it is being done really leaves one to wonder whether patients will get adequate care.”
Stuart said two wards from the old section of the hospital were being used to accommodate patients from the fourth and fifth floors.
“The remaining floors, they are trying to squeeze them into one ward of the hospital so you have six wards coming together to be housed in one ward. This mass exodus is really causing numerous problems, we are trying to reassure our members that with all that is happening patient safety remains paramount.”
He also expressed concern that because six wards were merged there would be an issue with “bathrooms because there is one bathroom for male patients and one for female patients.
Ali said the issue of the bathrooms was being addressed “but Mr Stuart must understand that this was an emergency.” She said some bathrooms were refurbished yesterday and will be made available for use.
Meantime, the Ministry of Health says as of yesterday patients from the Central Block were relocated to wards within the PoSGH, EWMSC, and the Caura Chest Hospital. It assured that the relocation was “conducted in a manner that ensured respect for patients and maintained optimal quality of care.”