THE transfer of a newborn from Enmore Regional Hospital to another public health facility demonstrates the effectiveness of Guyana’s referral system rather than a failure of neonatal care, according to the hospital’s Administrator, Dr Badyel Bakhsh.
Bakhsh was responding to recent criticism of the public healthcare system by Azruddin Mohamed surrounding the transfer of the newborn, rejecting claims that Enmore Regional Hospital lacked neonatal ventilators.
He said the hospital had neonatal ventilators at the time of the incident, but the equipment was already being used to care for other critically ill babies.
According to Bakhsh, the medical team stabilised the newborn, assessed the available capacity within the public health system and arranged for the child to be safely transferred to a facility where the required capacity was available.
He said the newborn is alive and well.
Bakhsh argued that such transfers are an integral part of modern healthcare systems, where hospitals operate as part of a wider network of facilities with varying levels of specialist and intensive-care capacity.
“No serious person should expect every hospital to have unlimited intensive-care capacity at every moment,” he said, stressing that the critical considerations are whether a patient is stabilised, appropriately transferred and provided with the necessary care.
The administrator said portraying the case as evidence of a systemic failure ignores the realities of hospital referrals and risks creating an inaccurate impression of the services being provided by healthcare professionals.
He also pointed to the performance of Enmore Regional Hospital since its opening in July 2025, arguing that its record demonstrates the extent of healthcare services being delivered to residents.
The hospital has recorded 33,331 outpatient visits, 25,359 emergency visits, 4,337 admissions and 556 deliveries since opening, according to figures provided by Bakhsh.
During the same period, the facility performed 125 Caesarean sections and 218 general surgeries, while its diagnostic services included 51,583 laboratory tests, 19,073 X-rays, 2,329 CT scans and 6,035 ultrasounds.
Bakhsh said those figures represent thousands of patients receiving treatment, mothers receiving maternity care, emergencies being managed and diagnostic and surgical services being delivered.
He acknowledged that Guyana’s public healthcare system, like any health system, faces challenges and should remain subject to scrutiny.
However, he maintained that criticism must be grounded in facts and that public institutions should be assessed on the totality of their performance rather than individual incidents presented without the wider clinical context.
“Accountability requires facts,” Bakhsh said, arguing that presenting a successful clinical referral as evidence of systemic failure amounts to political criticism rather than constructive scrutiny.
He also warned that inaccurate portrayals of public healthcare could undermine confidence in doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who provide services to Guyanese patients daily.
Bakhsh said the public health system is continuing to expand, with new hospitals being constructed, diagnostic capacity increasing and specialist services being strengthened.
He said the expansion is also bringing healthcare services closer to communities that previously had to travel greater distances to access certain forms of treatment.
The administrator maintained that the development of Guyana’s healthcare system should continue to be debated and scrutinised but insisted that such discussions must be based on verifiable information and the realities faced by medical professionals.
“Mr Mohamed can manufacture a narrative. He cannot manufacture away the record,” Bakhsh said, maintaining that the performance figures from Enmore Regional Hospital provide a clear indication of the services being delivered.
