– expanding several departments, conducted first surgeries

THE Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) has recorded its first major prostate surgery which was conducted during the week by Urologist Dr. Brian Niles. This is months after the hospital conducted its first renal cancer surgery by a team led by Dr. Yu Zijun of China.
Apart from conducting the prostate surgery, Dr. Niles said that he is very pleased to be offering these specialised medical services to the residents of Linden; prior, they would have had to travel to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) to receive same or at a private hospital.

Dr. Niles revealed that the enlarged prostate and kidney stones were the largest he had removed. They weighed 276 grammes. The patient was diabetic and while passing urine, felt extreme pain. He was happy to have conducted the surgery right in Linden and to see the patient recovering well.

“We are very excited for this type of development for the Linden community, and I feel very confident in saying that we can do a lot for Linden in Linden as far as urology goes, our resources may not be perfect but we make good use of what we have,” Niles mentioned. He expressed appreciation for the maximum support being given by the management of LHC as well as the Ministry of Public Health, and with this continuous support, he believes that Linden’s urology services will grow to a higher level.

Niles, has been practising urology internationally and has been a visiting urologist since 2013, but is now here on a full-time basis. “We have seen an exponential growth in the patronage of the service…the service was much needed…the referrals for the speciality of urology was primarily to GPHC, and it was nice to know that we were able to come directly to Linden and provide the services to the community of Linden, and I think that is responsible for the growth of the service.” The LHC is expected to have available equipment and machinery that will allow for less invasive surgeries to be done soon.
Expansion in departments

The LHC has also in 2018, expanded several of its departments and services to better serve the needs of the residents. The psychiatry team has recognised the need for more clinic days because of the number of patients that they treated for mental health during the previous monthly clinic. Clinic days are now Monday to Fridays and the clinic was relocated to a bigger, newly-renovated office in the compound of the old Mackenzie Hospital’s building. Patients can now enjoy more privacy and comfort.

Another area of expansion at the LHC is the ophthalmology department. Clinics were held in a cramped office at the antenatal clinic but this has also been relocated to an also much bigger, and newly renovated area which accommodates more patients on a daily basis.
The hospital was unable to provide laboratory services from a biochemistry analyser as it was out of order since May 2017. But in May this year, a new analyser was secured and has been of great benefit to the patients and the doctors of the LHC. This analyser ensures that tests are done rapidly and at no cost. Therefore, it helps the patients’ pockets and ensures timely and accurate diagnosis which leads to accurate treatments being administered.

The hospital was gifted from the Chinese medical brigade, a portable ultrasound machine and two EKG machines. The portable ultrasound machine has been placed in the maternity ward and one of the EKG machines has been placed in the emergency ward.
The LHC has also moved to establish committees that have the potential of ensuring better management within the hospital. The ethics committee serves as a review committee of complex cases which had an unfavourable outcome. The main aim of the committee is to retrace the procedures and protocols that were followed in a particular case to determine what could’ve been done differently to ensure a more favourable outcome.

The drugs and therapeutic committee aims to assess, control and requisition drugs in a more organised manner. Following complaints from nurses of a shortage of drugs and other medical supplies, the hospital has expeditiously rectified this with the help of the Ministry of Public Health and is now requisitioning drugs from the Material Management Unit (MMU) as needed.