Dear Editor,
Thelma Ribeiro has been languishing in the Public Health System since the 8th day of March, 2016. A letter was sent to the former Minister of Public Health who later publicly denied having any personal knowledge of her case. It is my hope that with a change in management of the public health system that a commission of inquiry can be set up to look into what really happened to Thelma Ribeiro. It has been over ten months now that she has been a patient in the system.
Surgery was done at the Lethem Hospital to remove gallstones; however according to the doctors who did the surgery, they were unable to remove the stones. She was then referred to the Georgetown hospital where the stones were removed in another surgery a few days later. It is after this second surgery that Thelma Ribeiro developed complications which led to her being in a comatose state. Additional minor surgery was done to insert a tube into her windpipe so that she could breathe after she was removed from the life support machine. She was then transferred back to Lethem, where she is today.
I am writing seeking an intervention by the new Minister of Public Health to set up a commission of inquiry to ascertain what really happened to Ms Thelma Ribeiro. A full investigation must be launched immediately before information gets lost.
Thelma is a mother, a wife, a grandmother, a human being who is Guyanese and deserves to be treated like any other Guyanese passing through the health system.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Mc Garrell
