The 38-year-old man who was left traumatized after what he described as an inhumane experience at the Accident and Emergency Department (AED) of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is breathing easier after meeting with hospital officials earlier this month.
Jeremy Hoyte said the meeting held on June 2 was a much better experience than the treatment he received on April 30 when personnel suspected he may have had COVID-19.
He was tested and the results came back negative.
In fact, Hoyte, who was determined to share the good news the same way he shared the bad, said he was satisfied that QEH Executive Chairman Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland followed through with her promise to investigate his concerns.
He said he is now hopeful that following what was discussed at the meeting, and the suggestions put forward by those attending, nobody would have to go through what he did.
“The meeting was cordial. There were some errors on their end and they are definitely working towards getting them corrected. They verbally apologized and acknowledged where they fell down. She [Sutherland-Bynoe] was very understanding because she came in there and she said ‘look, we fell down’,” he said.
Hoyte said he was sent to AED by a general practitioner with a letter requesting he receive emergency attention because he was suffering with severe headaches and shivering. He said from the time he got to the department he encountered difficulties as it relates to how he was treated, until he was discharged.
He said while he understands that the medical personnel on duty at the time may have had their concerns because he was awaiting his COVID-19 test results, they could have treated him in what he described as a humane manner. He received a COVID-19 test at Paragon, Christ Church on April 29.
In the article published on May 22, Hoyte explained that not only was he left in a room for hours without anyone checking on him, but he had to rush out of that same room because it was extremely cold and he felt worse being there.
He said he also had an issue with the tone in which some of the professionals spoke to him, among other concerns.
Eventually, he was treated by a doctor who was donned in personal protective equipment. He praised that physician for the professional manner in which she attended to him.
Nevertheless, Hoyte said he was pleased to report that the tone was quite different when he attended the meeting with Bynoe-Sutherland.
He made it clear that there was no negative or mischievous intention in bringing his story to the public.
“It was not my intention to create any issue or fear mongering. My main reason was to try to create some kind of change in how they are operating down there because the whole procedure and how they were dealing with people was so ridiculous.
“So I am pretty much happy that they admitted that they were wrong and that they are working towards making changes. I am all about positive changes for the betterment of the hospital,” he said.
Meanwhile, when contacted, Sutherland-Bynoe also said she was pleased to meet with Hoyte. She explained that members of the medical and nursing team directly involved in the incident were present at the meeting.
“I wanted to ensure that any resources that needed to be directed to solving the problems were made available. We learnt key strategic lessons on how to improve the patient experience and still keep staff and other patients safe during COVID.
“But I want QEH to do less reacting and more for improving the patient experience to be everyone’s primary mission. We need a revolution in our service culture and I thank him for saying loudly ‘QEH you can and must do better’,” Bynoe-Sutherland said.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb
