The Queen Elizabeth Hospital has strict measures in place to prevent against any Accident and Emergency (A&E) patient with a suspected case of COVID-19 from potentially affecting its general population, the hospital’s most senior doctor said Wednesday.
QEH Director of Medical Services Dr Clyde Cave told journalists: “Ill patients are more than likely to come to the hospital before they go anywhere else, so we have instituted a series of practices to ensure we protect our staff and patients with other conditions that are being treated.
“We have instituted a Call Help Desk, and we would advise that before people make their way to the hospital, they call this Help Desk, where we have doctors and nurses who can give them some guidance on how to proceed.
“When the patient comes to the A&E, they go to a triage tent on the outside where they have to fill out a questionnaire, and we would advise you to be honest and forthcoming with all answers as you do so, and after that any patients who seem to have respiratory ailments are directed to a ‘suspicious’ (isolation) area. Other patients will be allowed into the regular A&E facility.”
Dr Cave stated that after assessing the patient, the staff would decide whether or not to give them a COVID-19 screening test.
He noted that sometimes there was a delay in getting the results of those tests, but they still made sure they looked after the patient.
“If the test results come back positive, then we would send them to one of the isolation facilities, but if negative, we would admit them to the hospital,” he said.
Responding to the death of an 84-year-old man at the A&E who was said to have presented himself to the hospital with COVID-19 symptoms, Dr Cave said autopsies did not always single out a specific cause of death, particularly in cases where patients might have had other pre-existing conditions.
Dr Cave told journalists: “We are not in a position to go into exact details, given the rules associated with doctor-patient confidentiality, but if a patient dies who came in with COVID-19 symptoms, but they were also diabetic, hypertensive or had other co-morbidities, the autopsy cannot always decide which ailment actually caused death, and we would also need to seek advice from the Coroner.”
Prime Minister Mia Mottley said Wednesday that Government’s efforts to combat the pandemic have been boosted lately, with the receipt of Rapid Antigen Testing is through the Pan American Health Organisation and the Guyanese government.
Two additional machines are due to arrive at the Government’s laboratory while two other labs on the island, including a privately owned one, are in the process of being approved for COVID-19 testing, the Prime Minister said.
She also announced that more doctors and laboratory technicians are due in from Cuba on Friday. (DH)
