An increase in shootings and stabbings put pressure on QEH

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) has recorded a doubling in the number of patients treated for stab and gunshot wounds so far this year when compared to the same period in 2021, and the situation is putting pressure on the health care facility’s limited resources.

According to statistics shared with Barbados TODAY, during the January to May period, hospital personnel treated 66 such injuries – 37 stab wounds and 29 gunshot wounds – compared to 13 stab wounds and 20 gunshot injuries during the same period in 2021.

There were an additional 44 stabbings and 19 shootings for the rest of 2021, bringing the total last year to 81 and 39, respectively.

In 2019, according to the QEH, the injuries of an estimated 780 patients who visited the Accident and Emergency A&E Department were classified as assaults, which included a range of injuries and not specifically gunshot wounds and stabbings.

Executive Director of the QEH Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland told Barbados TODAY the statistics shed light on the tremendous impact crime and violence in society were having, particularly on the A&E Department.

She said with the hospital operating with limited resources, having to treat gunshot and stab wounds leads to longer wait times for other persons seeking emergency care.

“The limited pool of staff that we have, have to attend to both victims and perpetrators of crime. At the Queen Elizabeth Hospital we don’t discriminate. Our duty is to provide care to all who present.

“And the untold story of the Accident & Emergency [Department] of the QEH is that there are so many people who come into our hospital from reports of crime, and many of them actually leave later having gone through Accident & Emergency and gotten immediate intervention within our start room and facilities and being rushed immediately to our trauma team in surgery which is available 24 hours a day.

“And by those quick interventions which are resource-intensive, we essentially are able to help those individuals recover,” she added.

Bynoe-Sutherland reminded that violence also leads to the healthcare institution incurring additional costs.

She also pointed to the social consequences of people losing loved ones and the injured being hospitalised for long periods, unable to work.

“So, the consequences are great. As an institution, what we are doing is positioning ourselves to respond. Our central role is to respond to any emergency situation. We are able to save the majority of cases that come through the doors of the Accident & Emergency,” she said.

The Executive Director said crime and violence also presents a risk situation for Accident & Emergency personnel and the hospital as a whole.

She said that while the incidents occur in communities, at times there is an effort to continue the criminal act at the hospital.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb