Senator calls for overhaul of elderly care in health system  

Independent Senator and public health specialist Dr Kenneth Connell urged a complete rethink of the healthcare system, warning that its current structure fails to meet the complex medical and social needs of the elderly.  

 

Speaking during Wednesday’s debate on the resolution to take note of the 2023–2028 National Policy on Ageing, Senator Connell said navigating the health system is “extremely challenging” for older people, particularly because of what he described as a disconnect between private and public healthcare.  

 

He pointed to the lack of seamless information and medical record sharing, which, he said, creates difficulties for both patients and healthcare providers. “The ease of information sharing is not there. The ease of medical record sharing is not there, and so it’s difficult,” Senator Connell told the Senate.  

 

The independent lawmaker also took issue with attitudes that limit the presence of relatives in hospital settings, especially in accident and emergency departments. Referring to a comment he heard on a call-in programme earlier that day, Senator Connell said there was a perception that seats in A&E were “not for relatives” but for patients only.  

 

But he stressed that many elderly patients cannot manage the health system on their own.

“Many elderly patients cannot navigate a health system without a relative or some other person acting on their behalf and giving information,” he said.  

 

Senator Connell questioned why relatives are not more actively involved in patient care within local hospitals, noting that his own training in another jurisdiction exposed him to a very different model. In that setting, relatives were allowed to remain on the wards, with basic accommodation such as couches, enabling them to stay overnight.  

 

According to Senator Connell, this approach benefited both patients and healthcare staff.

“As medical doctors and nurses and healthcare specialists we were very glad when this happened because it meant that, one, you had someone to assist in care,” he explained, citing simple but essential tasks such as helping with feeding.  

 

He also highlighted the “sundowning effect”, a condition that commonly affects elderly patients, particularly those over 65, when they are hospitalised. Senator Connell explained that patients can become delirious and disoriented due to factors such as lack of sunlight and unfamiliar surroundings, sometimes appearing psychotic.

“These things are real,” he said, warning that such symptoms can be misinterpreted as acute psychiatric episodes.  

 

In an already strained hospital environment, Senator Connell said a single agitated patient can disrupt the entire ward.

“Now imagine a hospital with two nurses and all it takes is one patient to be agitated, and that destroys the whole dynamics of the ward. Nothing gets done,” he cautioned.  

 

He argued that many of these challenges stem from a system that “has not been reformatted” to properly accommodate elderly patients. Allowing relatives to assist in open wards, he suggested, could significantly improve care and comfort. “Elderly patients are a lot more comfortable when they see familiar faces,” Sen Connell said.  

 

Broadening the discussion, the senator urged his colleagues to rethink how ageing is viewed in policy terms. “I want us all in the Senate to divorce from the thought that ageing is the only metric that we need to consider when looking at the elderly,” he said.  

 

Senator Connell warned that unhealthy ageing poses a serious challenge for small island developing states like Barbados. While acknowledging ongoing issues in managing conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, he stressed that these are only part of the problem. Arthritis, dementia and other forms of cognitive decline, he said, place additional and growing pressure on the health system.  

Without meaningful reform, Senator Connell cautioned, Barbados risks being unprepared to meet the realities of an ageing population.