JA- Deaths may be linked to long waits at Bustamante Hospital

By Caribbean Medical News Staff
An audit of cardiac services of the Bustamante Hospital for Children was ordered following alleged suspicions that several children died awaiting treatment. It was further alleged that no surgeries were performed over the past two months.
Chairman of the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), Dr Andrei Cooke strongly refuted the allegations and insists that SERHA has received no reports of children dying due to lack of surgery. He however told a local newspaper that the audit will be conducted to “identify any deficiencies and ensure corrective actions are taken”.
He added that the assertions could be nothing more than people seeking to embellish the issue, as it must be taken into consideration that despite intervention, some children will still die from their cardiac conditions. Dr Cooke said it was a policy of the hospital to give parents a full understanding of what they are up against, thus allowing them to make the best decision in the fight for their children’s lives.
Dr Cooke contended: “The average total cardiac death percentage is 9.5 between 2008 and 2014. In 2014, 113 children succumbed to their illnesses, not for lack of care; only 10 per cent represented cardiac death. Majority of them are post-operative, a lot of them are medical, which means they are inoperable situations, which means we were managing them, and they succumbed to their illness.”
The SERHA chairman also addressed grievances of no cardiac surgeries being done at the hospital during the past two months, ascribing the “decline” to the unavailability of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) space. Conversely, he said the reality is that the hospital’s ICU serves the country’s entire paediatric population, and not just surrounding areas.
Dr Cooke appealed to parents for patience as the hospital works to resume surgeries. “We monitor these children, and we are just asking them while we expedite as quickly as possible all the steps that are needed to put things in place.”