For the second time in almost five months, doctors at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) have decided to treat only emergency cases because of a reported acute shortage of drugs and other supplies.
But head of the hospital, Dr Dexter James, has called the protest action “premature”, saying the institution had now been able to obtain all the items which the Department of Surgery found were in short supply.
“We have the supplies at hand,” he told the SATURDAY SUN. “We have supplies for people on various life-saving therapies and we will continue to mitigate the stock-out.”
The Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP), in announcing the action “with immediate effect” yesterday, said there was a shortage of “basic supplies” including alcohol, sterile gloves, IV fluids, antibiotics, hand towels, soap and drugs.
BAMP’s public relations officer Dr Lynda Williams told reporters: “The current shortages have reached a critical level and we can only use the limited supplies for the treatment of the most ill patients.”
Please read the full story in today’s Saturday Sun, or in the eNATION edition.
