THE Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has reached another significant milestone in its mission to deliver comprehensive healthcare services to the public.
Recently, the hospital successfully performed breast reconstructive surgeries for eight breast cancer survivors who had previously undergone mastectomy as well as facial reconstructive surgery on a teenager—both entirely free of charge.
Mayo Clinic defines mastectomy as a surgery to remove all breast tissue from a breast. It said that the surgery is most often done to treat or prevent breast cancer.

For context, breast and chest wall reconstruction was performed on breast cancer survivors with various types of cancer, while the facial reconstruction surgery was carried out on a patient who was injured in a boating incident approximately two months ago.
These groundbreaking initiatives, aimed at restoring physical form and emotional confidence, has brought renewed hope to persons navigating the challenges of breast cancer in Guyana. The surgeries were a collaborative effort between the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) and the Caribbean Association of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgeons (CAPRAS). This groundbreaking initiative brought together doctors from Australia, the United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica, marking their first joint endeavour in the Caribbean. The team also received support from local medical professionals.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday to share the success stories, Dr Shilindra Rajkumar, Head of the General Surgery at GPHC, emphasised the importance of holistic care for cancer patients.
Highlighting that the patients had been preparing for the surgeries for over a year, he stated: “This wasn’t something that could happen overnight. It [required] a lot of planning and a lot of convincing, but they [the patients] managed to wait.”  In preparation for the operations, the patients were also provided with extensive counselling to prepare them for the recovery process.

“Just to give you some perspective, our average operating time—which is the average time we spent on one patient—was six hours. The shortest case was actually three hours and 40 minutes, while the longest case was eight hours and 30 minutes,” Dr Rajkumar explained.
He added: “That’s people standing and operating for that period of time. Over the weekend, we started on Friday (January 24, 2025) and ended yesterday (January 27, 2025). We had one patient who had to be taken back to the operating room. So, one of our patients experienced a complication, which we managed to fix on Sunday (January 26, 2025), and she’s doing fine. I think, overall, the experience provided everyone with a really, really good learning opportunity.”

President of BAPRAS, Dr Maniram Ragbir noted the importance of education and training as part of the organisation’s ethos, aligning with the World Health Organization’s stance on disease burden.
According to him, the goal is to train local surgeons to perform operations independently, rather than relying on external teams from the First World.

“One of the things that we are trying to do as a British Association is to go to countries that we can help and to train the people in those countries to do the operations themselves. It’s the old principle: don’t give a man a fish; teach him how to fish, and he will feed his entire family,” stated Dr. Ragbir, a Reconstructive Surgeon from the United Kingdom and member of the visiting team. He said the mission marks the first time the association has ventured into the Caribbean, with previous efforts focused on Africa and Asia. He estimated the cost of breast reconstruction surgery to be £30,000.
Moreover, some of the operations involved state-of-the-art procedures, with the best treatment available globally being provided in Guyana. The team is focused on developing a sustainable training model, which will be supported by the donation of a specialised microscope from the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to the GPHC, enhancing training efforts.

HIGHLY SKILLED OPERATIONS
Highlighting the significance of such equipment, GPHC’s Dr Rajkumar explained: “Three of our patients had what’s called microvascular transfers. For the child, we took actually skin from her thigh and transferred it to her face along the bone. We even took blood vessels—veins and arteries—about three millimeters in diameter. That’s why we have to use a microscope to do this operation. The arteries and veins were stitched or sutured together with sutures that are a little finer than your hair. So, it was a high level of skill.”
He added: “For two of our breast patients, we took skin from the lower abdomen, along with vessels of a similar calibre—about three millimetres in diameter—and brought it up to the breast. And then we took the artery and vein in the breast, and we put them together”
He explained that the process of joining them takes about an hour to an hour and a half and must be done under a microscope. It involves very precise movements, specialised instruments, and unique, delicate sutures, according to Dr Rajkumar.
In terms of the way forward, GPHC plans to offer breast reconstruction to any patient who has been diagnosed with breast cancer and completed their treatment. This option was not available before and was not part of the discussion surrounding breast cancer treatment.
Meanwhile, Robbie Rambarran, Chief Executive Officer, GPHC said that the hospital is committed to providing the best care for people in Guyana and other countries. As of recently, he noted that there has been an influx in patients from around the Caribbean.
“GPHC extends its deepest gratitude to BAPRASS, CAPRASS, and their corporate partners who donated equipment and supplies to support the programme. Special thanks were given to the local staff who worked tirelessly over the weekend to support the mission. The hospital looks forward to future collaborations that will continue to improve access to advanced medical care for the people of Guyana,” a statement from the hospital said.

EMPOWERING WOMEN
One of the first beneficiaries of the mission, 61-year-old Leona Walton-Barton, shared her journey
of survival and recovery. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, Walton-Barton underwent a mastectomy in early 2021. She related that the loss of her breast had a profound impact on her self-image, but reconstructive surgery gave her a renewed sense of normalcy.
“I’m very happy with the results. Thanks to the doctors, they made me feel comfortable about wanting to do it [the surgery] because I was feeling like a vehicle with one of my tyres inflated. I want to thank you very much for this opportunity, and I trust that it will continue giving everyone a chance to feel comfortable in themselves, like they used to,” she expressed.
Another patient, Ramrattie Conhaye, 56, from Region Two, shared that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001. After undergoing a mastectomy, she felt depressed and too ashamed to leave her home. “I did the breast surgery and I’m so happy because I could go anywhere. I must thank the team,” Conhaye said, expressing gratitude to the medical team.