While recent developments in our country point to mayhem and negativity, there is still reason for hope. While the government has been coming under fire from  the public for mishandling and mismanagement of many of the country’s affairs, there is still something great happening in the public system. While for many reasons I do not agree with the abolition of user fees for public health care services, I must commend the Mandeville Regional Hospital (MRH) for excellent services rendered despite the many limitations. 

 

I am using this medium to relate the positive experiences I had during what I now dub “my ten day stay at the big pink hotel on Caledonia Road”. I must hasten to add that given the choice,  this is not where I would have chosen to vacation and when my doctor told me that he was admitting me to the maternity ward at MRH I was filled with trepidation. This stemmed from scary stories I had heard about the treatment received by women who had previously been admitted. It is now reconfirmed in my mind that “not everything good fi eat, good fi talk”.

 

As I walked into the lobby of the maternity ward, at 5:55 p.m. my fears of sub-standard treatment were immediately allayed. The Nurses on duty were friendly and very professional; quick, but thorough. The young doctor on call even took the time out to apologize for the long delay and assured me that he would get to me soon enough. While his “soon” took three hours, I was given a well-made, comfortable bed on which to lie. The examination by the physician, though long in coming (now 10:00 p.m.) was quite a pleasant one. He answered all my many questions patiently and calmly even though he had been seeing patients from 7:00 a.m. the day before and would continue seeing them until the end of his shift at 3:00 p.m. the next day. He kindly explained every procedure that he did and that would be done and at the end of it all did not forget to bid me a good night.

 

During the next ten days of my stay I was treated to the most pleasant and professional service by all members of the health care team. I believe that ten days is a long enough time for me to come to the veritable conclusion that something remarkable is still happening in the public health care system. The maternity ward at MRH was so busy that I thought to myself that if it were a hotel the proprietors would be filthy rich. I also marvelled at the display of courtesy and patience by the nurses who worked under extremely stressful circumstances, dealing with a parade of women who were by no means peachy. The same big-hearted and magnificent treatment was meted to all the patients – some bawling like goats being slaughtered, some rude and offensive, the good, the bad and the indifferent; all  were treated equally, as human beings.

 

The bottom line is that my stay at this “big pink hotel on Caledonia Road” was a most  satisfactory one. However, I had one major concern.  I needed to be tested four times daily with a simple point- of- care instrument that requires the use of reagent strips. This machine does not cost as much as JA$5000.00 and each strip costs on average $50.00, yet my testing was delayed each time because this little machine was not available on the ward and had to be borrowed from another. The problem would be further compounded if I could not afford to supply the strips each time I was to be tested. I also had to seek diagnostic testing from a private facility which, in my mind, defeats the whole purpose of “free” health care.

 

This brings me to make only two recommendations to the technocrats who make decisions on behalf of the public:

 

1.    For true equity, effective and efficacious care, there needs to be the re-establishment of even a small user fee (arbitrarily $150.00) for all users of public health care facilities. With the high turnover rate of patients, this small/insignificant amount would quickly add up and go a long way in maintaining and purchasing well-needed equipment to improve the quality of care offered to all patients especially those who, during their stay, are truly unable to afford private treatment.

 

2.    Give the nurses, medical technologists and other allied health professionals their due! They are all well-deserving proficient civil servants who go beyond the call of duty to daily intercept the hands of death  and ensuring that the public – tax-paying and otherwise receive excellent service.  They need the recognition that is due to them and we all know that rewards in cash if not most satisfying stretch the farthest.

 

I will be one tremendously satisfied national of this land we love if, added to my astonishingly wonderful experience at Mandeville Regional Hospital, when I return in short order to give birth, the smiles of the nurses are even wider. This because they received well-needed equipment and supplies to offer continuouseffective care and in their pockets a little extra, so that they can, maybe, just maybe enjoy a ten- day all inclusive vacation at a big pink hotel somewhere on the North Coast.

 

Tamara Chambers-Richards

Coordinator, Medical Technology Programme

Northern Caribbean University