Gov’t to sign MOU with Doctors Hospital
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Former Health Minister Dr Duane Sands yesterday called on the government to address the root problem impacting the delivery of healthcare at Princess Margaret Hospital — nursing and skilled labor shortages.
His comments come as Health minister Dr Michael Darville confirmed to Eyewitness News that the government will move forward with a memorandum of understanding with Doctors Hospital to assist with accident and emergency “overflows”.
Darville confirmed the emergency department had 12 admissions, and a total of 16 patients were transferred to Doctors Hospital west and one to doctors hospital east last week.
One patient sent to Doctors Hospital west was discharged with follow-up at the PHM outpatient specialty clinic, he said.
Darville continued: “We still have challenges at the PMH that are currently manageable. But we intend to go into a working memorandum of understanding with doctors hospital west to assist us during overflows at the accident and emergency.”
Darville announced that the hospital was in “crisis mode” due to an influx of non-COVID-19 patients on Thursday. At the time, he said more than 50 patients were awaiting admission to the Princess Margaret Hospital, necessitating a transfer of some patients to Doctors Hospital West.
Yesterday, Sands said: “It will continue to happen until you have fundamental change. The problem is not physical infrastructure. The problem is far bigger than that, this is a problem of human resources, and this is a problem of finance.
“If you think this is purely an issue of brick and mortar, look at the Critical Care block, look at the 20-bed ICU, that eight beds are closed because they don’t have nurses there to staff them. Look at the equipment there that is broken that is unrepaired that is derelict that is defunct because you have not invested the money to maintain it.
Sands continued: “This is not about building a new hospital, you can build a new hospital but if you don’t have registered nurses, if you don’t have pharmacists, if you don’t have radiology technicians, you can’t run it. It is why the mini hospital in Abaco and Exuma are white elephants because you don’t have the clinical expertise to make them run.
“Your biggest problem is you don’t have registered nurses, and whether you like it or not without registered nurses you cannot run a healthcare system.”
Sands said presently the state-of-the-art operating theatre at PMH can only manage three operating rooms per day due to the lack of nurses, and trolleys.
He noted the subsequent impact on ambulance services due to the use of trolleys to manage overflow in Accident and Emergency.
“So what are you going to do, buy more trolleys or fix the problem,” he said.
“You’re stuck in this mindset that a nurse ought not want to be paid a living wage.”
Sands noted the need for skilled, specialized workers was an “existential” problem facing both the public and private healthcare sectors.
He called for a change in the approach to nursing to shift the image of the role of a registered nurse in The Bahamas.
“Until you change the appeal of the role of a registered nurse in the Bahamas, particularly young single women nurses will leave the country in droves because they have the option,” Sands said.
“You basically have them working as slaves, they can’t afford to pay their rent, they can’t buy a car, can’t buy a house, can’t pay their bills.”
He added: “We’re not prepared to make the tough decisions because we like to believe that this too shall pass and all we have to do is train some more, train some more, but you can’t train them fast enough.
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