THE National Ophthalmology Hospital (NOH) is once again at the centre of
concern in Region Six, as the People’s Progressive Party-led Regional Administration seeks to discredit the Regional health services director concerning the operations of the facility, stating that patients were being turned back as no check-ups or surgeries were being offered.

This claim was disputed by Alex Foster, the Focal Point Coordinator and Adviser to the Minister of Public Health, who said that minor surgeries and screening were being conducted daily at the facility.

Dennis Deroop, Regional Chairman (ag) Region Six, on Thursday morning called out the regional health services director for what he deems inaccurate reports about the operations of the NOH, based on an article that was carried by some sections of the media.
Deroop, told the media he has been getting conflicting reports from persons who turned up to use the facilities of the hospital only to be turned back, They claim that no operations or procedures were being performed, contrary to what the Regional Health Director Jevaugh Stephens has told the regional administration and what was published in the media.
As a result, Deroop said he decided to make an impromptu visit to the facility early Thursday morning to ascertain what was taking place. He was allowed to tour the Port Mourant Hospital but when he asked to tour the NOH he was told he needed to wait until a representative from the Ministry of Health was present and he was asked to wait. He waited for a while and after no one showed up he decided to speak with the media, air his concerns and leave.

“We are seeing a continuous behaviour of the health services director misleading the regional administration and I think this RDC will have
to make a decision on it, to recommend disciplinary actions be taken against him for misleading us and providing us with inaccurate reports,” Deroop said.

He continued that they have had several issues in the past where the information reaching the administration and what is provided by the health services director differs. That is cause for concern.  He further questioned the reason he was not allowed to tour the other section of the facility.
Alex Foster, the Focal Point Coordinator for the Ministry of Public Health, who went to the facility to meet with Deroop, has since disputed the claims, noting that over 70 surgeries were done between January and April and that the facility was open where minor operations are  conducted daily.

He further said, “The major surgeries can be conducted but we (Ministry of Public Health) decided that in order to provide a more responsive and better quality service to the thousands of patients we have scheduled for major surgeries we should upgrade the facilities.
“When we started we realised a lot more work was done and a decision was made to do a comprehensive overhaul of the entire hospital because we expect it to be for the first time fully utilised over three shifts”
He stated that the works were ongoing and while he would love for it to be completed by the end of next week he would await official confirmation from the four teams working around the clock on the different areas to let him know it is completed.
“We are hoping it is going to be finished by next week but I will not give you that date since work keeps getting added to the load. For example the AC was not working. Now that we fixed it we have to replace the widows to allow it to function effectively. The water filtration system is being done, the kitchen was upgraded. They are all being done to cater for the patients’ needs.”

Foster confirmed that a lot of hard work and resources were put into the facility and due to bad publicity, because of a misunderstanding, all the good work gets overlooked and this was very disheartening to the staff who had been giving a lot more that what was asked of them.

“Our staff at the hospital have been doing a great job and they were advised as per the public service rule not to speak to the media or
allow the media into the facility for the protection of the patients.
“They have to be commended for that and I am sorry I did not get to meet Mr Deroop so I could have addressed his concerns personally, but I
want to make it clear, minor operations are being done but not major surgeries where the patient has to use the recovery room or stay in for recovery at the hospital at the moment”

Foster said alsothat due to the public’s renewed trust for the quality of health care being provided there had been an increase in patients being seen at the hospital.
“We are getting over 100 patients daily at the hospital. When we took over it was like a ghost town. At Skeldon we have between 1,300 and 1,500 more patients for the first quarter of the year. This is testimony of the level of service we have been providing.”

CONTRACT OF HOSPITAL
Earlier Foster in speaking with reporters offered some explanations as to the background of the hospital noting that the issues with that led to the non-performance of major surgeries for the past three years was something that was inherited contrary to what most people believe.
“In 2015 that contract expired and since then I have been asking to see that contract so we can know what was in and what wasn’t in. We cannot find the contract so we don’t know what was in the details and when we are asking for a renewal of that contract we can only negotiate to a point of strength on behalf of the people that we represent if we know what was in the last contract rather than being told by different people this was in the contract or that was in the contract. We need to be told in black and white and then get a guideline to where we are going, so people are trying to blame the present system. The present system inherited the problem.”
He noted that despite the issues surrounding the contract, credit must be given to the regional administration which kept the facility going.
“This is a national hospital so this was supposed to come directly under the ministry of public health. The regional health services now are
supposed to have overall responsibilities but because it is a national institution then it’s supposed to be centralised in decision-making.

“Credit must be given where it is due and the regional administration deserves credit, it has been spending money to ensure that the ophthalmology hospital continues to run and do what we can do but for the capital items there is no budget at the regional level for the
hospital.”

Foster is confident that when the upgrading is completed, the facility will be fully functional at international standards for which it was built and will be able to provide all supporting services, such as meals, recovery, pharmaceutical and laboratory, among others.
He noted that there was a backlog of over 2,000 cases for major surgeries that are awaiting the completion of the upgrading.

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