SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Stakeholders have expressed grave concern over the heavy strain that serious, violent crimes have been putting on the public health system in Westmoreland.

The sentiments were expressed during a public forum hosted by Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang here at Manning’s School Thursday night.

Medical officer of health for the parish, Dr Marcia Graham, during a stirring revelation from the floor, bemoaned that not only operations at the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital were seriously impacted, but staff members, who live in some of the volatile communities now at war, are afraid to venture out early mornings, thus impacting their punctuality.

“We have staff members who cannot come to work as early as they should because of the area that they live in, they cannot come out until daylight. And, you might think this is a simple thing, but it also has a ripple effect. When you have somebody working in the dietary department arriving late, meal preparation is delayed, the food gets to the ward late, the clients who have to take their medication before meal or after meal, their insulin therapy, all of that is thrown off balance,” she bemoaned.

“Not only do you have health-care workers not able to carry out their task in certain communities, whether it’s for home visits for elderly persons, or it is vector control workers who need to do premises inspection for disease prevention; but we also have a significant impact as it relates to the operations at the hospital,” Dr Graham noted.

For instance, the MOH noted, the increased number of patients admitted at the hospital with gunshot wounds also lessened the number of bed spaces available to other patients whose conditions are not as life threatening.

“When you have victims of serious crime coming in, it means that other clients who are already in the hospital needing care, that their care has to be curtailed, has to be put on hold as the team pulls all of its members together trying to save lives,” Dr Graham pointed out.

“You might have persons who are on a bed and they are not so critically ill – when you have a critical gunshot wound for instance, coming in, that person might have to be placed on a chair so you can use that bed to try to save lives.

“We are seeing an increase not only in gunshot wounds, but also in intimate partner violence, we have been seeing increasing cases of sexual assault. And all this puts a strain, especially on the gateway into the hospital, the accident and emergency department.”

Bishop Oneil Russell, head of the Ark of the Covenant Holy Trinity Church in this town, told the security minister that whenever individuals from downtown Savanna-la-Mar get sick they become fearful of seeking medical attention at the hospital, as they were conscious of being confronted by gangsters from other communities who are at odds with members of their community.

He also noted that a number of students from downtown Savanna-la-Mar were not attending school because they were also afraid of being targeted.

Dr Chang noted that he was aware of the existence of gangsters domiciled in the Gully Bank section of Savanna-la-Mar, near the hospital and revealed plans to thwart their activities.

“I know of the alleged Gully Bank gang. We’ll have to find a way to deal with that situation very quickly and in a very clear way. I don’t think they can have an institution as important as the hospital where ganngsters are preventing people from accessing health care and impact on the health-care workers. This applies to school but this is a special situation. I made a note of it. I will certainly ask the senior supt (Robert Gordon) to remind me to have discussion how best to deal with it cleanly and quickly,” Dr Chang told the gathering.

For his part, Senior Superintendent Gordon, commander of the Westmoreland Police Division, noted that the police have undertaken several operations in Gully Bank in the past and “this revelation will also aid us in taking a more strategic approach in that area.

“Gully Bank is also in our area of operation. We have carried out a number of operations in there but because those guys blend in as if they are patients, or just visiting, sometimes you don’t really pick up that they are there as a menace. If we don’t get the report as to what they are there doing it will be somewhat difficult,” the senior policeman said.

The panic forum was held against the background of a spike in murders in Westmoreland which ended last year with a 60 per cent increase in murders, the highest across the 19 police divisions.

The killings spilled over into this year with some seven murders, including three double murders so far.