Police grant some Craig residents, GPHC staffer bail
THE alleged abandonment of an incapacitated sexagenarian on a parapet at Craig, East Bank Demerara, by staff of Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) last Thursday, continues to attract public comment.
But, even though the initial press statement by GPHC made no mention of the discharged patient, Praimdatt Narine being dumped on a parapet outside of a house where he had previously lived, a subsequent release, issued on Saturday, said: “First and foremost, GPHC’s staff did not, nor did they intend to leave the patient in the mud, as was falsely accused by the villagers.”
The release continued: “GPHC has competent and professional staffers who perform their jobs creditably. Moreover, the protocol involved, when taking a patient home after he/she would have been discharged, is to hand that patient over to a relative, who, then, assumes responsibility for that patient.”
However, according to a teenage girl, whose mother the GPHC release claimed is Narine’s wife and visited him daily while he was hospitalised, her mother is married and her father is alive and well.
The teenager said that, prior to Thursday, the man was the recipient of favours from the family and had been accommodated there for some time. But that situation no longer exists and so, when the Social Worker insisted that the patient be taken into the house, she was appalled.
Other residents of Second Street, Craig, who witnessed the entire episode and intervened on Narine’s behalf, reiterated that, contrary to GPHC claims, that its staffers who took him there in an ambulance were  ambushed and assaulted by villagers, there was no physical violence.
When the Guyana Chronicle visited and spoke with villagers last Friday, they denied the ambushing and assault and that the Social Worker was spat upon by a villager.
Disrespectful
They said it was the social worker who instructed the porters to leave Narine on the roadside and was highly disrespectful of the President (Bharrat Jagdeo) in her response to someone’s threat to draw his attention to the matter.
The villagers want the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, GPHC and Office of the President (OP) to mount an investigation into the incident and have it dealt with appropriately.
As Narine, 60, who had suffered a broken leg in an accident along Soesdyke/Linden Highway some time ago, lay motionless on the parapet, a villager with a video camera attempted filming the situation but the social worker hit the camera out of the videographer’s hand and uttered an indecent phrase, the residents said.
The GPHC’s initial response was that the patient, after constantly being in and out of hospital, was discharged on July 15 but refused to go.
The release said, after no one went to take him away, the Medical Social Worker and porters visited the address he gave the institution, Lot 99 Second Street, Craig Village, where they informed a resident that they would take him there later in the afternoon, as he was well enough to be discharged.
They reported, though, that, on arrival at the house around 19:30 h Thursday, they found the place in darkness and the gate chained and padlocked.
The teenage girl said the social worker angrily ordered an orderly to break the padlock off the chain and place Narine in the yard.
She said she informed the group that her mother was not there and only her sick and elderly grandmother was at home and that the patient was not a member of the family.  He did not live and had no rights there but the social worker declared she would not take him back to hospital and instructed the porters to leave him on the parapet.
That incurred the wrath of neighbours and, as tempers flared and insults hurled back and forth, the incident soon developed into a rabble and most of the Second Street, Craig residents demanded that the ambulance attendants take the cold and shivering man off the ground and place him in the vehicle.
They said the social worker arrogantly asserted her authority and gave the order for the hospital employees, numbering about five, to get back into the ambulance and drive off.
At this stage, the irate villagers telephoned Grove Police Station and, to make sure the ambulance did not depart before the cops arrived, they placed obstacles in its path.
Soon after the arrival of the Police, Narine was taken away and there was a heavy downpour of rain.
Spitting
The Police invited the GPHC staff and a woman in the crowd, accused of spitting on the social worker, to Grove Station, where they were all put on self-bail.
Neazam Subhan, who witnessed what happened, said people of all race turned out to vent their feelings about what was being done to the sick Narine.
“It was about the injustice being done to a sick and helpless man,” he said.
Meanwhile, GPHC’s last response to the allegations of Craig residents said: “First and foremost, GPHC’s staff did not, nor did they intend to leave the patient in the mud, as was falsely accused by the villagers.
“GPHC has competent and professional staffers who perform their jobs creditably. Moreover, the protocol involved, when taking a patient home after he/she would have been discharged, is to hand that patient over to a relative, who, then, assumes responsibility for that patient.
“With respect to the villagers’ statement regarding GPHC’s staff taking the patient to the Palms (Stabroek News, Column 2, Para 3) there is also obviously a protocol involved, the most relevant and important of them is that the patient must be 60 years or older. This patient is 58 years of age and, therefore, does not meet one of the requirements for residency at The Palms, not a decision of the hospital, but one of The Palms’ administration.
“Moreover, social issues are not primarily a matter for the hospital; it is a matter for the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security. However, GPHC’s Social Workers’ Department intervenes in these matters and tries to assist patients who need help. The hospital is already overcrowded. What will happen to those patients who genuinely require admission? In recent times, media houses have photographed patients being doubled on one bed. This exemplifies one of the reasons for this problem.
Premeditated
“Based on the villagers’ statements (Stabroek News, Column 2, Para 4), it is obvious that she was present during the social workers’ first visit to the home and it, therefore, follows that her prior acts were premeditated. For, as soon as the ambulance arrived at the patient’s home, the villager approached the staff and commenced her abuse without being informed as to the reason for their (ambulance and staff) visit.
“At this point, the Police were called and it was they who instructed the social workers to take the patient to the station, so that they (Police) could investigate the matter. At the station, the Police informed the social workers that an adult had called earlier, from the 99 Second Street home, to report that a woman, claiming to be a social worker, told them that she would be returning the patient to that residence.
“With regards
to the young man who was taping the social worker (Guyana Times, Column 3, Para 2), GPHC calls on this individual to release that tape to the Police and GPHC and this will shed much clarity on what actually transpired and end the debate.
“Additionally, the hospital has written to the Commissioner of Police, with written and signed statements of GPHC staff attached, for him to launch a thorough and speedy investigation of the matter and have charges brought against all perpetrators. It is against the law to hold an ambulance under siege and prevent a State worker from executing his/her duties.
“Management will not debate this issue any further. We will allow the Police to do their jobs.
“Finally, GPHC invites media operatives to view the damage that was done to the ambulance and talk with the staff who were involved in the incident,” the statement ended.