The doctors at the Leonora Hospital on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD), are frustrated, exhausted, and unhappy about their burdensome work schedule and are calling for the Minister of Health’s intervention.
According to the doctors, they are severely overworked and despite repeated pleas to Regional Health Officer (RHO) Erica Forte, no help is in sight. The doctors are claiming that the Leonora Hospital has been understaffed for almost a year now with only three doctors currently tending to patients’ needs.
During an interview with the Stabroek News, the doctors, who asked to remain anonymous citing fear of victimisation, related that the deterioration of working conditions took intensified back in December 2020 after Dr Tandika Smith, currently a government Member of Parliament, took over as District Medical Officer.
“We used to have over 15 doctors here to tend to the patients’ needs and after Dr Smith came here she started to treat some of the staff really bad and some were transferred while the others [Cuban doctors] left and went back. Now it is just three of us here and at this moment is just one of us alone running this hospital. She sent one to work with the health centres and another is on 7 days annual leave. We have do everything. Basically it is really stressful on us because we are back and forth all the time,” one of the doctors lamented.
The hospital is under pressure and according to the doctors they are left to cover a 24-hour emergency department, doing routine swabbing for patients with COVID-19 symptoms, and most time seeing out-patients. They would be assisted at times by two doctors from the health centre who would do their on-call hours at the hospital. Additionally, the doctors claim that the patient load at Leonora Hospital is greater than that of the West Demerara Regional Hospital, despite it being under renovation.
“We are tired all the time and cannot function. We are dealing with people’s lives here and Dr Smith has to get more doctors but her answer remains that the region is short of doctors. This hospital never in history had less than 10 doctors covering the emergency department. We are targeted with doing daily routine swabbing of Covid-19, attending to emergency patients and out-patients. Also we have to accompany referred patients to West Demerara Regional Hospital and GPHC when the need arises. There is no place to rest and no place to shower after seeing COVID-19 patients,” the doctor alleged.
They are accusing Dr Smith of also refusing to assist patients and doctors.
“Dr Smith is living right across the road and don’t ever assist in seeing patients… she is a GMO [General Medical Officer] just like the others and can assist since she knows that there are so short of doctors but she always refused to do same. She would constantly be calling the doctors out from their annual leave and force them to cover shifts. Presently, she is holding back doctors remaining days of annual leave and refuses to sign them off,” one of the doctors whose annual leave was denied related.
“We are really hoping that this can reach the Minister because the RHO isn’t doing anything for us. We complained several times but because of their connection no action is being taken,” the doctors say.
While Dr Smith is a serving MP on the government side, Dr Forte was on the PPP/C’s list of candidates for the 2020 general and regional elections.
Adequately staffed
When contacted, Dr Forte told the Stabroek News that the hospital is more than adequately staffed and dismissed such reports by the doctors. She, however, refused to say whether the doctors indeed reached out to her for assistance.
“The Leonora hospital is under construction. The staffing there is more than adequate. In fact they don’t complete their 40 hours weekly because there is so many doctors there. They are functioning more as health centre capacity with some emergency facilities because the main body of the hospital is still under construction with PAHO grant,” she explained.
The Leonora Hospital is currently being retrofitted to become a Smart hospital.
When asked about capacity at the institution, Dr Forte said “we have about 5 of them [doctors] but in addition to that, the health centre doctors that are attached to them would do calls and so on… so they are adequately covered.”
Dr Smith refused to comment on the issue and her role at the hospital.
