PM visits Kamla at QEH

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart about to leave the QEH last night after visiting Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Tue, May 22, 2012 - 12:00 AM

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is due to return home today after falling ill late yesterday at Hilton Barbados.

Persad-Bissessar, 60, was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) where she underwent tests.

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart paid a 20-minute visit to the hospital from around 6:40 p.m.

Half an hour later, Acting Minister of Health Irene Sandiford-Garner exited the Accident & Emergency (A&E) Department and told the DAILY NATION that Persad-Bissessar had complained of feeling unwell during the Mexico-CARICOM Summit.

“She was taken here this afternoon for observation. We hope to keep her overnight before she flies out [tomorrow].

“We have top specialists and a capable team of doctors led by head of the A&E, Dr [Haresh] Thani, treating her,” Sandiford-Garner said.

By press time, QEH communications specialist Carolyn Williams-Gayle reported that Persad-Bissessar had discharged herself.

“Tests were conducted and came back inconclusive. She subsequently exercised her option to leave the hospital and has returned to her hotel room,” said Williams-Gayle.

When contacted, Trinidad’s Foreign Affairs Minister Suruj Rambachan, who is in Barbados, also told the DAILY NATION the Prime Minister was on the mend.

“She is resting now. Obviously, she is doing much better than when she went in [to hospital].

“I think she was very tired and exhausted,” he said.

In Trinidad yesterday Acting Prime Minister Jack Warner announced that Persad-Bissessar had been hospitalised.

Warner reported that he had also made contact with Prime Minister Stuart, who said he would do everything possible to ensure her “comfort and care”.

No mention was made of a specific ailment, but earlier in the day Persad-Bissessar, appearing upbeat, chatted with reporters about the proposed Barbados-Trinidad fishing agreement and natural gas pipeline. (CA)