Hospital death trap!
IN an emergency, getting to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) near Papine, St Andrew could save your life, or take it. Traffic congestion, clear flouting of the law by motorists, as well as an invasion of the periphery by unauthorised persons, have made access to the regional hospital an uncertain journey at best.
A check of hospitals islandwide showed that the UHWI’s entrance situated between Papine and Mona Commons toward the north of the facility, was the most risky off all, as oftentimes there were long queues to get inside.
Vendors encroach either on the premises or on the immediate outskirts, and a bus stop helps to block access, often making it impossible to get to the hospital in a hurry.
Hospital authorities say they have pressed for an improvement in the situation, but to no avail.
“We have been in contact with agencies like the KSAC (Kingston & St Andrew Corporation) and the National Works Agency (NWA) in a bid to review the situation at the gate,” UHWI chief executive officer, Dr Trevor McCartney, complained in an interview with the Sunday Observer.
“I have spoken with the police High Command, expressing our severe disgust at not only regular traffic, but emergency traffic finding difficulty accessing the gate,” McCartney said.
Support for McCartney came from consultant emergency medicine specialist, Dr Romayne Edwards, who while sympathising with the vendors and public transport operators, insisted that proper systems must be put in place for smoother access to the hospital.
“I have no problem with persons making a living and because of the economic conditions, there are persons trying to be entrepreneurial. (But) I have a problem when they make a living and infringe on the lives of others,” said Edwards, who is attached to the hospital’s accident and emergency department.
“There are small potholes in front of the entrance and whenever it rains, these persons put barricades, trolleys, supermarket carts, chairs, stones and blocks in the road to prevent cars from splashing them, which slows the traffic. Heaven forbids if you are coming and swing, you are going to mash up your car.
“The carts have also started to come onto the hospital property. It is also equally difficult to leave, which has resulted in several accidents involving the vehicles of employees.”
“It takes minutes to save a life. Those minutes spent trying to negotiate those barriers can result in the loss of a life,” Dr Edwards warned. “For an institution like the UHWI, which deals with complicated cases and emergencies, we have to sort it out. It is chaos in front of the hospital between 7:40 and 8:30 in the mornings and around five o’clock in the afternoons.”
Although there are concerns at other hospitals, the magnitude of the problem is far less elsewhere.
Community officials were worried about hindrance to access to the Mandeville Regional Hospital in Manchester, especially during peak hours along the Caledonia Road.
Apart from certain occasions when there is commotion at the Kingston Public, the largest hospital in the English-speaking Caribbean, access to that institution is usually unhindered.
The Noel Holmes hospital in Lucea, Hanover, the Cornwall Regional in Montego Bay, St James, the Black River Hospital in St the Elizabeth capital, the St Joseph Hospital in eastern Kingston and Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine were among those that did not appear to be affected by heavy traffic, or illegal vending on the periphery.
There is no problem, too, at the fast-growing Annotto Bay Hospital in St Mary, a Type Two institution that has seen a medical doctor staff growth from one in 1985 to 42 at present. A Type Two hospital is a notch down from the Type One in which the UHWI, KPH and Cornwall Regional fall.
“We have no difficulty with traffic and congestion when people try to gain access to the hospital,” the hospital’s senior medical officer, Dr Ray Fraser reported.
However, the neighbouring Westmoreland Oval sports complex poses tricky situations on occasions, as music promoters at times abuse the Noise Abatement Act, by playing loud music in the silent zone, even in broad daylight.
At the University Hospital though, visitors and officials are sick of the continuing traffic situation and obstructive vending.
“Vehicles stop abruptly in the middle of the road to purchase articles from the people selling on the sidewalk and whenever it rains, the people who sell put chairs on the road to prevent vehicles splashing them, which becomes a significant traffic hazard.
“This has made access to the university hospital gate very difficult and hazardous. To date there has not been a solution,” McCartney said.
“We are looking at an alternative entrance to vehicular traffic. The Mayor did promise to get back to us, but he has not done so to date. There have been a number of initiatives, dating back to the National Housing Development Corporation, to find housing solutions with proper facilities like sewage, water and electricity somewhere else for the persons who are currently on the sidewalk,” said McCartney.
“The authorities considered a small kiosk or plaza, where the persons would be relocated off the sidewalk, but that also has not come to fruition to date,” he added.
“The NWA has recommended the relocation of the bus stop and the possibility of establishing a bus bay.
That only takes care of the legitimate transport system. But the illegal transport system is more hazardous than the legitimate system.
“The bus stop is inappropriately placed, but it is the illegal persons who cause the problems, because they don’t have a set place to stop. They stop when they feel like and they have persons who try to access their vehicles whenever they feel like stopping them.
“They stop in the middle of the driveway, they stop anywhere, they double park, or park across the road and you cannot move them,” Dr McCartney said.
Dr McCartney said that he was not aware of a fatality arising from the difficulty in trying to access the hospital, but insisted that it would be unwise to sit around and do nothing until someone died.
“Our private security has been requested to assist in clearing the area and it is alleged that they have been threatened,” the hospital CEO noted.
McCartney now plans to take the problems to the Member of Parliament for St Andrew East, Dr St Aubyn Bartlett, Health Minister Ruddy Spencer, Police Commissioner Owen Ellington and representatives of the NWA and the National Water Commission.
The inner-city community of Mona Commons is located opposite to the entrance of the hospital, which officials have blamed for most of the congestion problems that it faces.
It is feared that any movement by the present administration to resettle the hundreds of residents there could result in serious political discord, if the alternative sites are not deemed to be adequate. Mona Commons is almost 100 per cent supportive of the Opposition People’s National Party.
Mayor Desmond McKenzie said that relocation was almost inevitable, but in the interim he blamed the police for not being forceful enough in addressing the present situation.
“We are aware of it and it is something that is being looked at by the KSAC and the NWA. It calls for relocation of the entrance.
“While we are looking at the long-term situation in terms of relocation of residents, the policing leaves a lot to be desired. Why is this so? It is a matter that calls for enforcement by the police. Why is this not being done?
“I am going to do one more thing-appeal again to the police about the illegal stopping of buses which stop without even stopping at the precise spot, parking and vending.
“The JUTC (Jamaica Urban Transit Company), the KSAC and the police must deal with it. However, initially this is something that the police has to handle,” McKenzie suggested.