MONTEGO BAY, St James — Patients scheduled for surgeries at the State-run Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) may have a long wait ahead of them as a chronic shortage of linen has forced the Type-A facility to reschedule elective surgeries. But while this issue is being sorted, there is also a shortage of blood testing tubes at the St James-based hospital which may prove to be a greater issue.

When the Jamaica Observer West contacted Dr Derick Harvey, the senior medical officer for the facility on Tuesday, it was confirmed that there is in fact a linen shortage at the facility. However, Dr Harvey argued, the issue is not “unique to Cornwall Regional”.

“The issue surrounding the linen shortage is…that there was a problem with the machine and that happens in all hospitals from time to time. So, we had to outsource our services and of course, if you outsource your services to somewhere where they already have their own load, it would have created a problem,” said Dr Harvey.

With that issue now resolved, according to the senior medical officer, the hospital will now be working to clear its surgery backlog. But Dr Harvey pointed out that some patients will be prioritised based on the urgency of their medical conditions.

“I understand that the laundry is fully up and running now, so the backlog of [linen] should correct itself over the next few days. This is not unique to the linen problem as from time to time you have various issues which can affect your service, so what you do is reschedule patients when that happens,” he explained.

The senior medical officer pointed out that though the shortage of linen saw the hospital turning back patients, no emergency operations were rescheduled.

“Even though we have a shortage, we try our best to get those patients sorted. So, that will never affect our emergency surgeries…what it will affect is our elective surgery and these surgeries will be rescheduled through the clinic. We were trying our best to clear our backlog of elective surgeries that was caused by the [novel coronavirus pandemic], but occasionally we get issues,” said Harvey.

However, a patient who was allegedly turned back from the hospital last week, argued that her medical condition needs urgent attention.

“Every time I go there for surgery a suh mi see dem do patients. The excuse is either that there is no linen, the theatre is out of use, only one side of the theatre is in use, a machine isn’t working, or there is no blood,” said the woman who requested anonymity out of fear that she might be blacklisted from the hospital.

“This time it wasn’t about blood, it was the shortage of linen…,” the frustrated woman complained.

“I heard that when you complain they blacklist you and don’t want to deal with your health anymore. That is very wrong because if there is a problem at a place somebody must can talk about it to have the problem resolved.”

As she grows weary of the constant rescheduling of her surgery, the woman told the Observer West that she desperately needs medical attention to fix “a three-year struggle.”

“I cannot work. I have two kids and I have to be depending on people to eat. Nobody is going to employ me like this. When the pain start lick mi, it could even be on the ground, but I have to lie down,” she said.

The current shortage of the blood testing tubes at the Type-A facility in recent times has resulted in both doctors and nurses working at the facility frantically hiding their own stash of tubes just to be sure that they will have enough to do their respective jobs, according to a well-placed source at the hospital.

But Dr Harvey also argued that the issue is not a unique situation.

“Blood testing tubes are short because there is a national shortage…these things come from Europe. I don’t know if it is COVID or that they may have issues in terms of the war in Ukraine…,” said Dr Harvey.

“Having said that, we are able to maintain our service currently. Last week, I did serve notice to my doctors that they need to be on standby in case we run into a problem, but as far as I know we are still able to maintain our services. We just have to be monitoring the situation, but we haven’t stopped our elective surgeries nor have we stopped our emergency services,” the senior medical officer added.

Dr Harvey further noted that while the hospital has not yet been forced to curtail its services, if the need does arise, they are prepared to do so.

“We are aware that should there be a problem where we are not able to go on like normal then we need to [utilise] our conservative measures. I can’t tell you if this shortage is going to affect us going forward for the rest of the week, but I know patients had come in for their blood testing yesterday[Monday]. But to say what will happen for the rest of the week, I would have to get an update on what our contingency plan is,” the senior medical officer told the Observer West.

“This is not unique to Cornwall because I understand that there is an island shortage of tubes, but Cornwall Regional is really trying their best to see how we can manage this,” Dr Harvey reiterated.