–says Region Six health officer

POOR communication is being blamed for critical medical supplies not being available at the Skeldon Hospital, which led to a sit-in by staff of the Accident and Emergency unit on Monday.

This is according to Director of Regional Health Services (DRHS), Region Six, Jevaughn Stephens at a press conference on Wednesday.
Stephens confirmed that the sit-in came to an end sometime around 16:00hrs on Monday, after the team met with Alex Foster,the liaison officer for the Ministry of Public Health in Region Six and aired their concerns.

Stephens explained that prior to the press conference, a three-hour discussion was held with some staff members of the Skeldon and New Amsterdam Hospitals, and it was found that while there was a shortage of critical drugs and medical supplies, the situation could have been rectified with proper communication.

Stephens said that in the past, a consumption list was usually prepared and sent to the regional office detailing the quantity of medications and supplies needed.
Noting that the last such list was prepared for the 2018 Budget,Stephens said that a lot has been changed since then, and that with the closure of the Skeldon Estate and its dispensary, the demand and usage of drugs and medical supplies have increased.

He said that in order to address the situation and avoid a recurrence of what happened on Monday, a Therapeutic Committee has been set up to look at such things as the basic illnesses across the region and the type of drugs and medical supplies that will be required.

On Monday, several doctors and nurses attached to the Skeldon Public Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Unit (A&E) staged a sit-in over the shortage of medical supplies at the institution, which was in turn affecting the patients who had turned up there for treatment.
According to Ram Mangru, executive member of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), the medical personnel told him that for several months, the hospital has been without basic medical supplies, among them injection needles, gauze, medication and plaster, and that this was severely preventing them from carrying out their duties effectively.

Stephens, however, assured media operatives at Wednesday’s briefing that at that very moment, supplies were being sent to Skeldon, and that the Regional Health Services remains committed to delivering the best possible medical care to residents in the region.