THE SHORTAGE of drugs, medical supplies and human resources continue to plague the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) but the government has maintained that these deficiencies do not affect the delivery of patient care.
The shortages were among issues raised during a tour of the facility by the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Social Services, led by Dr. Vindhya Persaud on Wednesday.
Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings; Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Valerie Garrido Lowe, and Opposition Member of Parliament, Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo were among committee members present while GPHC was represented by its Board Chairperson Kessaudra Alves; the Chief Executive Officer, Allan Johnson and Director of Medical Services, Dr. David Samaroo. As part of the onsite visit, Accident and Emergency, Surgical Outpatient, Cardiac ICU and the Paediatric Units were among key areas visited.
At the Accident and Emergency Unit, Dr. Zulfikar Bux told the parliamentary officials that the department is faced with a serious case of overcrowding which is compounded by a shortage of both doctors and nurses. The hospital operates on a 24 hour basis.
He noted that the hospital not only treat patients from Georgetown and neighbouring communities but from across the entire country through a system of referral.
He said on any given day, the 18-bed department sees between 60 to 100 patients.

“The biggest challenge lies in the overcrowding. We have an 18 bed department, and at any point in time we would have between 60-100 patients in the department, so it is a very limited space in terms of taking care of patients,” he explained to the officials.
According to him, the hospital is currently working on a plan to tackle this issue.
But the situation he lamented is further compounded by the shortage of nurses and doctors. Given the quota of patients seen on a daily basis, Dr. Bux contended that the department would need approximately 30 doctors to deliver timely and efficient patient care, however it only has 16 doctors. The situation with the nurses he posited is even more dire.

DRUG SHORTAGE
Over at the pharmacy, the Senior Pharmacist,Jenelle Welch disclosed that they are short of several drugs and medical supplies but explained that these drugs only ran out within last few days and weeks.
“It’s on and off, there are some stuff that’s not in supply right now but we still get medication coming from time to time,” she posited, while pointing out that the patient load ever so often is hard to keep up with.
“In terms of medication we don’t have immunoglobulin. We don’t have midazolam, fortum;insulin not available for a few weeks,” she disclosed. The pharmacy is also out of aspirins, metoprolol and atorvastatin.
It was noted that the pharmacy would order drugs and medical supplies three months before they are exhausted but the procurement system is often a lengthy one.
Director of Finance, Ronald Charles said in times of emergency, the hospital would request needed supplies from four main primary suppliers which include Ansa McAL and New GPC. However, it was noted that there is an annual contract.
At the end of the tour, Dr. Persaud noted that the procurement system remains a problem in the country, noting that similar problems existed at other hospitals visited.
“I think it is a serious shortage and certainly they have not been able to get a handle on it,” she posited.
“We have visited many hospitals and what we have found is that there are many doctors there who are enthusiastic, who are doing their work, who are working above and beyond the call, even here, and there are still drug shortages and at the end of the day we are not looking at anything more than making sure that the patients out there get the medication,” Dr. Persaud added.
According to her, a lot of the medications that are in short supply are critical for patients with certain diseases. However, Minister Cummings objected, noting that though there maybe shortages within the system, the delivery of services at GPHC and other hospitals are not severely hindered.
“I think that we do have some shortages of course but it is not affecting care or the quality care that our doctors and nurses are giving to the patients;so of course we know where the gaps are, and we have made efforts and will continue to make efforts to address this,” she assured.
Based on the visit, the parliamentary committee will make the necessary recommendations and a report will be submitted to parliament.