Family of a missing Scottish man told Jamaican doctors don’t work on holidays
The family of a Scottish man, who was reported missing, but later found to be at a hospital in Kingston, said they were told on Monday (Oct 21) that doctors in the island do not work on public holidays.
They claimed they were so informed by a worker at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) upon trying to obtain details about the condition of 45-year-old Graham Bently.
Graham, a Cayman Islands resident, arrived in Jamaica on Monday, October 14, for a scheduled appointment at the British Embassy. However, Graham’s family became alarmed when he missed his return flight to Cayman. According to the sister of Graham, who lives in Scotland, she had reached out to the British Embassy in Kingston and was initially told that Graham was not arrested or hospitalised. However, on Monday morning, the family received information that Graham had been hospitalised and was being cared for at the UHWI.
“We had a breakthrough. A family member managed to call all hospitals in Jamaica, even though the Embassy told us that he wasn’t hospitalised. He is definitely in the University Hospital. He’s clearly unwell, we can’t speak to a doctor and we don’t have any idea how bad he is,” said Graham’s sister.
She said she was told by the hospital that her brother was on Ward 6 and that it was Heroes Day in Jamaica so no doctor would be available to speak to her because doctors did not work on holidays. She was told to phone back on Tuesday.
Similarly, a Cayman Islands media house also made contact with the hospital and was told by a nurse on Ward 6 that doctors did not work on holidays. A Cayman Marl Road journalist further tried to get the nurse to put Bentley on the phone but was told that the phone was not wireless.
Subsequent news reports have revealed that Bentley may have been injured at work, as he was observed on airport security footage struggling to walk. Bentley is originally from Stonehouse Lanarkshire, Scotland.