‘Prioritise health care’

THE husband of a woman who needed urgent life-saving surgery has called on Government to prioritise health care above everything else.

Saiyad Gaffar Shah said his wife needed surgery to remove a seven centimetre nabothian cyst. He expressed his disappointment after doctors at the Lautoka Hospita said the operation could not be conducted because of issues with the operating theatre and computed tomography (CT) scan machine.

Mr Shah said he spent more than $10,000 to have his wife operated on at a private hospital in Suva.

“How sad is that, my wife was in severe pain and was in need for an operation so we went to the Lautoka Hospital only to be told that the CT scan machine was not working,” Mr Shah said.

He claimed the doctor sent her home and said her sickness was not severe.

“After a few days, the pain got worse and she was admitted at Lautoka Hospital for a week.

“Then they just put her on antibiotics. The gynaecologist and doctor came, they told us that the CT scan machine was not working and the place where they carried out operations was not in a good condition.”

He said he had to transfer his wife to a private medical centre to undergo the CT scan.

“We waited for two days and nothing happened, the folder didn’t go there.

“So we left the hospital and came straight to Suva so that my wife could get checked at the private hospital.

“After doing all the scanning, my wife was admitted on the same day and the operation was conducted the next day.

“I am doing this for other women who can’t afford an operation at the private hospital.

“I was lucky that my wife had health insurance because it costs thousands of dollars to be treated at a private hospital.”

When quizzed about the issue, Minister for Health and Medical Services Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete said CT scans had downtimes and there were weight limits.