‘Mercy of God carrying us’

Patient care buckling at UHWI as docs fume over COVID crisis

JAMAICA’S COVID-19 cases increased by 66 on Thursday, creating an additional burden on public-health workers as doctors from one hospital have described working conditions as “untenable”.

In a letter addressed to the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association, the internal medicine resident body at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) says that buckling health services have had a debilitating impact on patient care.

“As the number of COVID positive cases continues to rise, these working conditions have become more burdensome and unrealistic and have set up our colleagues for burnout, increased risk of succumbing to the virus, and, unfortunately, literal collapse,” the group said.

The doctors disclosed that a staffer collapsed on the COVID ward from exhaustion after hours of standing while attending to infected and isolated patients. They also alleged that there have been delays in patient care because of insufficient staff and resources to assist with intubation or to operate mechanical ventilators.

TRYING TIME

CEO of the UHWI, Kevin Allen, said that it has been a trying period for hospital staff as they struggle to create more space to address the rising number of COVID-19 cases. Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said there are currently 933 active cases out of a total tally of 1,870.

“It has been rough. I have been on my knees begging the doctors and the nurses,” said Allen, who said that a number of doctors have been quarantined because of possible exposure to COVID-19. Doctors are being placed in discrete teams while working as a safety measure.

“You don’t have enough persons in the teams, so you will have three persons manning 30 beds, 35 beds.

“... It is the mercy of God that is carrying us through,” he told on Thursday.

The CEO said that the hospital has been advertising for more doctors, particularly those trained in internal medicine, as well as nurses, to help ease the burden. Other areas of the hospital are currently being retrofitted to increase treatment capacity.

Medical chief of staff at the UHWI, Dr Carl Bruce, revealed that there are now 23 active cases at the hospital. As infections rise, so, too, has the risk to medical staff.

“In the initial part of the pandemic, about eight of our healthcare workers would have tested positive. Since the surge has occurred, or the increased number of cases, we have had about nine of our doctors tested positive,”Bruce said during a Ministry of Health and Wellness press conference on Thursday evening.

Since March, 34 healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID-19. Tufton said that additional health professionals are being deployed to bolster the numbers on the front line. The deployment of 121 medical officers who previously did not have posts in the public-health system should begin in a week.

Efforts are now being made to increase the 750 community health aides to 1,000. The number of public health inspectors is also set to be increased.