CTUSAB raises alarm over ‘non-functioning’ QEH theatres

The Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) has raised alarm as two-thirds of the operating theatres at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) have been shut down.

CTUSAB’s General Secretary, Dennis De Peiza, said that, according to his sources, the issue has persisted since November.

The hospital later confirmed that two-thirds of its nine operating theatres have been out of action since January, owing to issues with air-conditioning units.

De Peiza said: “At the QEH it is my understanding, that since around November until this day, the major theaters have not been functioning and therefore, as a result of that, one has to ask the question, how many people are impacted, suffering or died as a result of not being able to access surgeries?”

In a statement, the QEH said: “Six of the hospital’s nine theatres were affected. However, QEH management, in collaboration with consultants, has optimised the use of the three remaining operational theatres by extending schedules and increasing flexibility to continue procedures.”

The company responsible for air conditioning maintenance at QEH, TMR, has been working on a long-term solution to the issue, “including the installation of new equipment to safely restore full theatre capacity. While some delays have occurred, efforts are underway to have the affected theatres back in operation as early as this week”, it added.

“Emergency surgeries and urgent cases have continued without interruption, and elective procedures are being actively managed. The hospital anticipates a return to normal operations in the coming days as additional theatres come back online.”

QEH also gave assurance that affected patients have been contacted with updates, and those who have not been reached can call the Patient Advice and Liaison Service.

De Peiza also raised concern about patient flow at the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department. He noted that the issue has been ongoing, with the hospital recently issuing statements about surges of patients in urgent care.

The CTUSAB general secretary proposed a solution to the influx of patients presenting at A&E.

“There could be a set of healthcare professionals, and maybe call it a trauma center, where those who come in with gunshot wounds, that seem to be a norm these days, heart attacks or strokes can be tended to in one section without having to have those persons who have other ailments suffer at the institution for two or three days before being attended to; because there should be another section of the A&E that is designated to for what you might call low profile cases.”

He explained that this system would allow patients to be seen quickly while extreme cases are handled separately by another set of healthcare professionals.

“But what it requires is proper planning, And of course, having the resources. So a budget should be made available to ensure that we can recruit the necessary staffing almost immediately to treat that, improve the system and to make it work.”

De Peiza highlighted the asthma bay as an example of this model. “When somebody comes with asthma, there’s no fooling around. They go straight to the asthma bay because you know that that is what that treatment is.”

In the Senate debate on the Appropriations Bill Minister of Health Senator Lisa Cummins said that over $30 million would go towards improving patient care at all public healthcare facilities.

She noted that over 20 per cent of patients presenting at the A&E Department do not need to be there, recognising that this may be due to a lack of proper infrastructure and shortened operating hours at polyclinics.