Reports of extensive wait times for mammograms on Grand Bahama
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A review of the backlog of patients seeking healthcare services and surgical procedures is under review, according to Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Michael Darville, who said the ministry and the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) has been working diligently to perform repairs and source manpower that has contributed to the problem.
Eyewitness News exclusively reported on the backlog that has impacted both Princess Margaret Hospital and the Rand Memorial Hospital on Monday.
The minister was unable to quantify the number of patients awaiting care and surgical procedures.
He said: “COVID has definitely taken up a lot of our resources. There have been much wear and tear in the public healthcare system.
“And the ministry, as well as the PHA, we’re working diligently now to do the necessary repairs that have caused some of the backlog with our surgical cases, and also to put in place additional manpower, so we can now begin to address the backlog.
“But as we speak, we are now doing some of that and we intend to do a lot more,” Darville said.
Asked for an estimated number of people impacted, the minister said it was difficult to determine.
He continued: “We have a wide cross-section of services: surgery, internal medicine, gastroenterology and the list goes on and on, and even with Ophthalmology, there are backlogs and we are having meetings to try to address those backlogs.”
There have also been reports of extensive wait times for mammograms on Grand Bahama, with some claiming as much as a two-year wait.
Darville said that has been a challenge since coming to office.
He said the issue with mammography and other diagnostic facilities “are being addressed along with the contractual agreement for the improvement at the Rand Memorial Hospital Morgue, so all of this is being done as we speak”.
He added that the location identified for the diagnostic facility, there were some structural challenges, namely the mezzanine for the attachment of some of the radiological equipment.
He said a contract will soon be awarded to put the service back in place at the hospital.
Asked to place a dollar value on the necessary resources to improve the healthcare sector, Darville said it was difficult to put a price tag on the resources needed to fight COVID, but he assured there are sufficient funds and where there are shortfalls, there is access to funding.
A total of 39 doctors graduated from the University of the West Indies on Sunday.
During the ceremony, the minister reminded the doctors that “we need your services”, as the healthcare sector continues to be challenged by a backlog of healthcare services and non-emergency surgical procedures.
The diversion of resources as a result of the pandemic and shortages have been attributed in part to the backlog
“Those doctors are already in the system, the majority are,” he said.
“And we know have to, along with PHA, make a determination where they would be placed.
“There is a deficiency at the Rand Memorial Hospital and also at the Princess Margaret Hospital.”
New hospitals
The government has committed to the construction of a new hospital on Grand Bahama and New Providence.
Prompted for an update on the project, Darville said the work to “make those a reality is ongoing” and the government is “progressing very rapidly”.
“The construction would be a phased approach,” he said, adding that with the “Grace of God, we are very confident that we are in a position” for construction to begin this year.
