The Public Relations Office of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation responded to an article published in the today’s (October 19, 2010) edition of the Kaieteur newspaper captioned, ‘Police ranks accuse GPHC staff of discrimination’.
Ms Proctor the spokesperson for the institution says some reporters from the Kaieteur newspaper are always seemingly in a rush to print stories that defame/discredit the hospital before granting it the opportunity to investigate an accusation which was leveled against it.
The story in point suggests or accuses the medical staff of the Accident and Emergency Unit of discriminating against a member of the Guyana Police Force. Proctor pointed out that, yesterday hospital attended to a number of emergency cases which warranted the doctors’ urgent attention. The officer in question presented a case of abdominal pain (categorized as non–immediate/ non–life threatening) and therefore could not be prioritized ahead of critical cases such as shortness of breath, lacerations with profuse bleeding, inter alia, which were being treated at that time.
With respect to the statement which claimed that as a result of a verbal confrontation, the triage nurse, “[ordered] the [Officers] to leave the A&E Unit.” It must be clearly stated that because of the nature of this department, the Unit’s supervisor has the right to ask visitors to proceed to the designated waiting area so as not to cluster the A&E and hinder its smooth operations.
Proctor claims that all visitors who were congregating in the A&E at the time were asked to wait in that area, not only the Officers, as was insinuated.
Additionally, as was misleadingly photographed and captioned in the article, the patient was never asked, instructed or advised ‘to lie in the sun on a bench’ to receive treatment. He was instructed to wait in the designated area but he refused and chose to lie outside. He was on several occasions asked to return to the waiting area, but did not comply.
The hospital Management reiterates that discrimination against ANYONE is NOT condoned and should any patient experience this must go through the appropriate chain and have the matter dealt with accordingly.
