More than 100 people suffering with kidney problems have been affected by the shutdown of the haemodialysis equipment at the San Fernando General Hospital. (My sources have told me that a number of patients have gotten ill after taking the dialysis treatment at San Fernando General Hospital. At least 50 patients' catheters have become infected after taking dialysis treatment at SFGH. Could this mean that proper procedures are not being followed? How can so many patients become infected in such a short space of time? Are the doctors/nurses not following proper procedures when sanitising the equipment after use? Who is to be held responsible for all the pain and suffering that patients have to go through? Again we see a case of poor people having to suffer at the hands of the PNM.)
The equipment has been out of operation for the past week.
Yesterday, there were some 20 patients sitting on a bench waiting to be dialysed. Among them was Dr Savitri Kallipersadsingh, a medical practitioner who lives in Siparia.
Kallipersadsingh told the Express she was "totally dissatisfied" with the service. "Just imagine I am here since 5 a.m. and I am not being told whether I would be dialysed today," she said.
Kallipersadsingh said she has been receiving dialysis treatment for the past three years. "This is the worst I have ever seen. The authorities seem not to know what they are doing," said Kallipersadsingh, who spent some three years on a bed at the hospital, from which she operated her private practice as an obstetrician.
After waiting for six hours at the institution yesterday, the doctor was told she would have to return for treatment. Partial restoration of the equipment was made late in the evening, and nine patients, including Kallipersadsingh, began receiving treatment. In all, 12 units used in the treatment were sent to be "sanitised" following the discovery of a bug in the system.
Since last Friday, 20 patients with kidney problems have been kept on Ward 11 of the hospital, following complaints about the catheters used in the withdrawal of body fluid during haemodialysis treatment.
The patients were treated at the hospital with antibiotics to ensure that no further injury is done to the neck piece, which is the area in the neck in which the catheter is inserted.
Imtiaz Ahamad, chairman of the Southwest Regional Health Authority, told the Express "all the elements concerning dialysis were sent to the Trinidad Virus Laboratory and a private institution to conduct the necessary tests". New patients (with kidney disorders) have been to private institutions for treatment since the discovery of the problem.
A medical source explained that the catheter is a tubular instrument used for the withdrawal of fluids from the body. Haemodialysis is the removal of waste from the blood of a patient with acute or chronic renal failure, by means of a dialysis or artificial kidney. The apparatus is coupled to an artery and dialysis is achieved by the blood and rinsing fluid passing through a semi-permeable membrane. Blood is returned through a vein.
Health Minister Jerry Narace was not available for comment yesterday, but the ministry's communications advisor, Jones P Madeira, said the matter would be investigated.
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