Dear Editor,
Presently there is a mortuary/parlour in front of the Wakenaam Cottage Hospital which operates without an attendant or cleaner. The relatives of the deceased are told to clean up the place after the dead person is removed. There is no one to ensure that it is properly done. As a result the whole hospital compound and neighbourhood have to face and endure the stink smell that emanates from there.
There are two porters at the hospital, working together from 7 am to 11 am and from 12 pm to 3 pm Monday to Fridays with one and two days off duty during these said days.
From 3 pm to 7 am there is no porter on duty. Saturdays, Sundays and on National Holidays there are no porters on duty. The security guards with less than 50% of the salary of a porter are then asked to do the porter’s work and that of a messenger to inform and call the nurses on duty whenever a patient arrives, especially at night using their cell phone on many instances to do so with no rebate to purchase a phone card for their phone.
On many occasions, we the patients are given prescriptions by the doctor to go and purchase drugs and medication which are not available for cases like high blood pressure and sugar among others.
There is urgent need for corrective action to be taken and to have the necessary drugs/medication available.
There is also need for two more porters at the hospital so that one can work from 7 am to 3 pm, one from 3 pm to 11 pm, one from 11 pm to 7 am and one for the change of shift and off duty.
Hoping the minister will see to it that the necessary action is taken along with the opposition in Parliament given the large sums in the Budget passed for the works of the Ministry of Health.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address supplied)
