A mother has spoken of her frustration after being told her injured son would not be seen by a doctor at Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre on Monday night.
She said they had waited for hours after the boy sustained a head injury that left blood pooling in his eye. But shortly before 23:00, she claimed, a nurse announced the lone doctor coming on shift would only attend to “dire emergencies.”
“Everyone was told to come back at 11 a.m. the next day,” she said. “I asked if my son’s injury was an emergency and showed them his eye. The nurse just shrugged her shoulders and walked off.”
The mother said she felt helpless and decided to leave. Her account has fuelled wider concerns about how the hospital defines an emergency, especially at night when private clinics are closed.
“What exactly is considered ‘dire’?” she asked. “People come from all over the island in pain or with injuries. My child had blood in his eye from a head injury – that should matter.”
The incident has raised fresh questions about patient care and emergency protocols at the medical centre. The hospital has not yet responded publicly.
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What did i just read ?
Madness yes
Hence why I refuse to take my children or even myself to that place, SLBMC feels like a death sentence waiting to be executed……
If that were my child, heads would roll. SLBMC can’t keep treating people like they don’t matter
Whatttttt? Aren’t we the ones paying the hospital staff. What do you mean the Dr not seeing patients.
Why are we begging for services we we are entitled to
I don’t care what emergency protocols they have, this is common sense. You don’t send a kid home bleeding and wait until morning
Nothing new in the SLBMC history, they don’t care about anyone and that’s something Molwyn and Belle-Jarvis needs to look into
That poor child! A head injury with blood in the eye should never be brushed off.
My daughter recently said to me ” mum you only go to SLBMC to die”. I had no words for a child who at such a young age has no confidence in the only hospital in this country. I pray God continues to guide us and protect us and give us good health.
Not news to me cause that incident happen to me already, I came to that hospital cause I was peeing blood, I came there after 8am that morning an I never got to see the doctor, people came after me an kept going in an out, a patient once ask the nurse at the desk “ain’t u gonna send the guy in he been here hours ago,
I left the hospital about after 6 mins to 7 that nigh, that was the same day the government pelt rubber bullets on civilians, I went home without seeing a doctor an had to go home an use stinging nettle
But that is an emergency smh
Are we going to claim reparations from SLBMC? We are going to blame White People for this type of situation that happens pretty often?
Well guess what the staff ain’t being treated no differently by Management so what u expect? From Medical Directors office to HR to Operations…….they treat these staff as if they are NOTHING. My heart goes out to the mother and child but listen you all need to walk a day in the shoes or these health care workers.
We need our knighthood back .
Sir
She wasn’t denied care. She was given the choice to stay or return in the morning at 8am. The child wasn’t in any obvious distress. One doctor is still one person, to tend to persons inside, on ambulance and walk ins the real persons to be upset with is the government for investigating in brand new shiny buildings Than the things that really matter. Oh health care is limited and suffering and the moneys paid in medical benefits can’t even cover half of the cost for equipment and testing.
The point of the matter is that the hospital is too small to cater to Antigua population and there aren’t enough doctors or staff to facilitate to hospital we have now. Each protocol and procedure is handed down by the ministers and persons in charge.
Nurses, doctors,teachers Soldiers and police all pay themselves they pay the same dues everyone else pay so stop saying you are paying them plz
Health care is always a problem, it’s like we go hospital to get care and we the patients are left to dead!!!! Something needs to be done about up there!!!! Another thing, I don’t see the need for the long wait, most a patient should be sitting in the waiting area is 30- 45 mins, when your name gets call , they check your pressure, then send you back to the waiting area for hrs after,, when your name finally gets called and you go behind all you see is doctors sitting chic chatting amongst eachother! Why just why. Now in this instance a mother with her child with head injury was told to go home because no doctor wouldn’t even attempt to see him!!! Total madness. Where’s the care?
Why is it we as a nation normally, listen to one side and not the two sides of story and then create a judgment?
So you think is only you alone can role or cause head to roll? You think nurses and doctors are animals and they don’t have family or friends can do the things you would want to do to them?
Nurses and doctors are human just like everyone else and there are protocol that everyone has to follow deny care to anyone should not happen but if there is no doctors there to see patients at that given time what did you expect the nurse to do?
These doctors are doing a job and is not in the business of attending to the wellbeing of people.
This attitude contribute to sluggish recovery rates, many deaths, wrong diagnosis, wrong prescription etc.
Unless they establish fairness at the hospital, the public will get the bad end of the stick. So much favoritism, nepotism happening up there people crying out and no one is listening. Nobody doing anything about it because why, they put you in a class and for nothing you will be treated fairly. Treat the staff unfairly, treating us like we’re not important what do they expect? It’s wrong but is humans working up there. The turn over rate is so high because people are tired and fed up.
Nurses / medical personnel are not the only ones who have access to patients’ room when there is a 4bedded room each patients have 2and in most cases 3 visitors by their bedside that is 8-12 persons at a time medical personnel are care givers not security or police that they should be standing in the rooms watching patients belongings?
Hmmm and so what if they paying dem self urall need more f doctor in The place cause they could check the child
The ER and the hospital are run buy people who put their ego, sex drive and money first. They are only there for the money, they don’t care about anybody at all. No passion for their work at all. If you want to be taken care of, you have to know someone there else they will leave you to die.
I’m not a doctor, just head injury and blood in eyes sounds serious, he needs a brain scan fast
Dem nurses up they just look man f*@# one another and share them lil stds and stis
They are not real nurses majority of the real nurses have left or on retirement the real nurses are from holberton hospital SLBMSJMC is a death sentence
But how are you going to make sure that this is not an emergency or father we will all die here that is not medical ethics what is happening to these doctors on this island the government does not pay them is
There are Cuban doctors who are willing to work even at night. Providing our services. But bureaucracy and other permits do not allow this to be possible