Some two dozen people, suspected dengue cases, were forced to lie on the floor of the Ward 15 corridor at the San Fernando General Hospital for nearly eight hours yesterday because there was a shortage of beds. Many of the patients were seen lying on benches as they waited for other patients to be discharged so that beds could become available. One man said, "I don't know when they will get this right. So many sick people here waiting for a bed... and they bringing in more people." A woman claimed she had been forced to wait several hours at the Accident and Emergency Department before being admitted to the ward.
"Right now I am still waiting to get a bed. They saying they may put me downstairs but so far nobody attending to me," the woman said. A hospital source said up to 8 pm on Tuesday, the ward had a total of 62 patients. "We just cannot find the space. We had a lot of patients over the weekend. This is the medical ward so many people with suspected dengue are brought here," the source said. According to the source, some of the patients were diagnosed with dengue. "These patients should have been isolated with nets around them but as it is, nothing is being done. So everyone here is likely to fall ill," the source said.
A senior hospital official denied reports that patients were being transferred out of the hospital to private medical institutions. "We are trying to discharge patients. We have a lot of patients with dengue and we are doing as best we could. We are filling the beds as fast as we discharge patients," the official said. Chief Executive Officer of the South West Regional Health Authority Paula Chester-Cumberbatch confirmed a high influx of patients at ward 15 of the hospital. In a release issued yesterday, Chester-Cumberbatch said the SWRHA was "continuing to deal with a high admission of patients at the admission suite, including those being treated for dengue."
She said because of this, several wards, including Ward 15, continued to experience a constant influx. "The Authority is advising that beds will become free as patients are discharged as necessary, during the morning and afternoon rounds," Chester-Cumberbatch said.