Dear Editor,

I was very intrigued to read the article on Sunday (October 9, 2011) re Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH). I must applaud the Sunday Observer and Mrs Donna Hussey-Whyte for such an undertaking which was necessary to expose the ill-fated treatment being meted out not only to the poor and destitute but also those who put their trust in a system that promises quality health care.

I smiled to myself while reading when Mrs Hussey-Whyte said that seeing just 15 people there she figured she would not have a long wait. I said to myself, “You have another guess coming.”

Having visited the A & E unit of CRH on numerous occasions, I would like to confirm that contrary to what Mr Everton Anderson said, Mrs Hussey-Whyte’s experience is the norm, and unless something major occurs every time I visit the hospital, that is how long it takes to be attended to by the nurses.

I must admit that the screening process has improved vastly, so with 15 people and a little over an hour wait to see the initial doctor, it is a much quicker waiting time than in the past. However, once you have been screened prepare to wait, unless you are a child that has to be nebulised.

The customer service counter is often empty, and if you are given number 102 for the injection room while they are serving number 96, you will wait for an hour or more. I have experienced it more than once, especially on the late-night shift. Once I thought they were having a change of shift after waiting two hours without seeing a nurse, only to see the same nurse return to start serving the next number as if she had just taken a 10-minute break, and no apology was given.

Don’t get me wrong, CRH has some of the most professional, caring and gentle staff (doctors, nurses, ward attendants, porters, admin, etc), but there are indeed bad apples among the bunch.

Mr Anderson spoke of changing the system, but this alone will not solve the problem. If the same people with the same attitude are in a new system then come November 1, it will be the same story, different day.

It might not be so obvious then, because the numbers visiting will be fewer, but it will be a similarly unpleasant experience. Just take a look at successive governments for a confirmation of that; new party in power – same antics, same results.

I believe some nurses go to work each day with the planned number of patients they are going to attend to, and however they do it, whether they see six in quick succession and spread out the other four over three hours, the daily quota is 10. I may be wrong but this is how my numerous experiences have left me feeling.

Mr Anderson, WRHA and MOH should embrace people like Mrs Hussey-Whyte for their investigative journalism as this is the only way the truth will come out in order to improve efficiency and the services provided. What is written in reports or internal investigations are not always true or are usually half-truths amalgamated with excuses that are manipulated to seem acceptable. These bad apples need to be held accountable for giving CRH’s hard-working and dedicated staff a bad name!

Thank you Sunday Observer and Mrs Hussey-Whyte for being the voice of the unheard and exposing the plights sufferred by outpatients at CRH’s A & E unit.

Jane Sangster

Montego Bay

St James