AT LEAST three asthma patients have complained bitterly about the treatment meted out to them when they sought emergency help at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and the Diamond Hospital.

All three individuals were told by those in charge to sit and wait until called, even as they complained of difficulty in breathing. The Chronicle received these reports in just one week.

In one instance, a young woman who lost consciousness fell off the bench at GPHC; and even then, all that the nurse said was that there was no attendant to help her up.

In the circumstances, one of the young woman’s female friends had to bring one of the wheelchairs to pick her up. The friend also had to pick up from the floor items from the young woman’s bag that got scattered all over when she suffered the hard and sudden fall.

‘DID NOT BUDGE’
The lone doctor and nurse who were on the floor did not budge to go to the woman’s rescue, until other patients began asking if no one cared to find out if the woman was dead or alive.

Even after being placed in the wheelchair in an unconscious state, the asthma patient was made to remain there until eventually she was sent in for attention.

Another patient, who also spoke to the Chronicle on condition of anonymity, said she arrived at the GPHC at five minutes to nine, and was not given help until 10:00hrs. This woman complained that she repeatedly went to the nurse to ask if she can be attended to, but was told each time to sit on the bench and wait until she was called.

RUDE NURSES
Even after this woman was sent in to receive oxygen, the nurses were so rude to her that she couldn’t even ask how many doses she needed and how long she had to be attached to the oxygen tank.

The third patient, Adrian Narine, a photographer attached to the Guyana National Newspapers Limited, said he went to the East Demerara Regional Hospital at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, begging for some oxygen, only to be told to sit and wait until he was called.

Narine said that although he explained to those on duty that he was experiencing difficulty in breathing, he was made to wait 45 minutes before he got some oxygen.

“They were very, very rude,” Narine said. “There was only one doctor working, along with two nurses, (and) one of them was really hostile. She told me to go sit down, and that there was nothing wrong with me; but I couldn’t breathe, I was begging for oxygen. I couldn’t get air to breathe; I was panting for breath.”

BUSY CHATTING
Narine told the Chronicle that the doctor and nurses were so engrossed in conversation that they did not even notice when he picked up the oxygen mask and took five minutes of oxygen.

“They said all of my readings were ok. Then why couldn’t I breathe?” Narine complained.

There were about four other asthma patients also waiting to receive medical attention.
Contacted yesterday for a comment on the issue, Public Health Minister Dr. George Norton told the Chronicle that he was aware of the incident which took place at the Diamond Hospital. He said the matter has to be subjected to further verification, and he was in the process of so doing.

The Public Health Minister noted that he has already written to the Regional Director of Health Services, relating specific incidents and requesting they be investigated.