Barbadians are being told to brace for a backlog in surgical procedures at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) amid a scaling back of operations intended to shield the institution from potential COVID-19 exposure.
Director of Medical Services Dr. Clyde Cave has however given the assurance that emergency medical procedures will continue to be facilitated even for persons infected with the dreaded virus, but for time-sensitive procedures, a negative COVID-19 PCR test would be required.
During a recent press conference, he revealed provisions have once again been made for basic surgeries to be conducted at the nearby Enmore Complex while emergency procedure will be done in the Obstetrics and Gynecology theatre which is away from the main operating theatres.
“The public often looks at emergencies and non-emergencies as a definite line. It’s not always that definite, and there are ways surgeons have of classifying something that needs to be done immediately to prevent loss of life or limb, as opposed to something that the patient would want done immediately just for convenience,” Dr. Cave explained.
“As a hospital, we have that full spectrum of cases and we can assure you that we have plans in place should there be that rare absolute emergency that must be done now where there is no time to wait for testing or an already known COVID-positive patient.
“The majority of cases will not be like that. Some of them can be rescheduled and that’s unfortunate, but really we have to be looking after the safety of patients and our own staff. Coming into the hospital is a risky situation and leaving your house is a risky situation, so if it is at all possible to postpone, we will clearly do that. We know there will be a backlog and there is a catch-up surgical campaign in the readiness for implementation as soon as it is safe to do so,” the medical services director added.
Surgeries labelled time-sensitive will be slightly lower on the priorities list and will require patients to take a COVID-19 test within 72 hours of being admitted.
“During that time they will be asked to self-isolate so as not to acquire any kind of infection. They will be looked after in the hospital in as short a time as possible and sent back home so as to mitigate the risks. Those ones will be scheduled in a way that there will be no overlap, it will be safe for our theatre staff and in recognition of the level of urgency. Everybody will be taken care of, but perhaps not as quickly as we used to or as the public would wish,” Dr. Cave stressed.
During the country’s first wave of COVID-19 a handful of surgeons expressed concern about makeshift theatres that were retrofitted for surgeries.
Nevertheless, QEH Executive Chairman Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland on Thursday noted that at least two medical procedures were conducted at Enmore. (KS)
