Five additional physicians to help ease pressure in QEH emergency department

By Anesta Henry

Five additional doctors are being assigned to the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in an effort to reduce wait times for patients.

Disclosing what he described as “very good news” on Thursday, the hospital’s Communications Specialist Shane Sealy said this is expected to play a significant role in reducing the long waits that have been a public concern in recent months.

“Very soon, we are going to have five more doctors joining the A&E staff. The five Senior House Officers will be on three-month contracts in the initial stage,” he told Barbados TODAY.

On Wednesday, the island’s tertiary healthcare facility issued an advisory indicating that the A&E Department was again experiencing a surge in patients. 

It stated that as of 11 a.m. on that day, approximately 50 patients were waiting to be seen by the department’s medical team.

Advising that patients who turn up with non-life-threatening conditions or emergencies would experience extended waits, the QEH advised that patients had the option to visit the 24-hour Winston Scott Polyclinic at Jemmotts Lane, St Michael for treatment or their private doctor.

Giving an update on the situation, Sealy said that as of 8 a.m. on Thursday, there were 39 patients waiting for care, a reduction from the initial peak that “we would have seen within 24 to 48 hours ago”.

“So, there were 39 patients at 8 a.m. and that has come down since 8 o’clock. We had six doctors on duty this morning, and more are coming in during the day to help clear those patients who would have experienced those longer than usual waits,” Sealy said. 

The A&E Department has been under pressure recently, with patients complaining that they have waited over 24 hours, and sometimes even longer, to receive medical treatment.

However, Sealy told Barbados TODAY that hospital authorities were getting a handle on the situation.

“The matter is under control. We are just trying now to deal with those patients who would have been waiting longer than we would have liked, and we apologise for that inconvenience.”

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb