EDITOR, The Tribune.

Please permit my husband and me a space to express gratitude to the hard working doctors and nursing staff at The Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), Accident and Emergency (A&E). We often hear the horror stories of experiences at PMH, A&E but persons neglect to say the positives.

Though my husband and I spent two days without food or rest in A&E because there were no beds on the Children’s Ward, our overall feel is one of much gratitude and humility.

We truly appreciate every effort made by the staff at A&E when we took our only son in for stomach pains. We watched staff come and go but God’s hand of mercy and favour was amazing! While there at A&E, we met persons who were there with their children, whom we now refer to as family. We prayed for one another, carried each others burdens and consoled one another as it became necessary. It was a true sense of family and community.

Hospital policy requires that a parent or guardian be present at all times while the child’s in A&E. Neither of us could leave so we bonded and made “lemonade” from “lemons’’.

We saw seven different doctors excluding the imaging personnel. Doctors Lockhart, Ferguson, Strachan, Mackey, Scavella and others whose names we can’t recall. We salute them along with Doctors Moxey, Barrett, Josey and Munroe who were concerned family and friends. The combined expertise they brought to the table, we could not pay for. It was the combination of these brilliant minds that led to my son’s recovery.

Our son, up to this time, had not been a part of the Public Health System, yet, he never had such an in depth and thorough examination and testing such as what he received while at PMH, A&E. Thank you all so much for your diligence, care and empathy. May our kind God bless you all richly. May you never experience lack up to your third and fourth generation is our prayer. Above all, we pray for good health.

We can agree that the working conditions at PMH need much improvement and the wait is extremely long, but the quality of expertise is unmatched! Because of this experience, we are now advocates for a separate Children’s and Geriatrics Hospital. This will alleviate a lot of the strain on one central Public Hospital. We were pleased to learn of a possible partnership with a US hospital. Bahamians and non-Bahamians alike, rich, poor or middle-class, we ourselves or someone we know and love dearly will one day pass through the doors of PMH. Let’s together make a difference! We have to support a National Health Plan so that our Public Health Care system can be improved.

There was no hand sanitiser in the automated machines and we were told that they hadn’t been filled in two years! Of course nothing beats hand washing with soap and warm water but this is just not acceptable. The cleaning staff is obviously overwhelmed because the overall appearance just looks unkempt. A deep cleaning is needed on a daily basis maybe in the hours of 3:00-4:00am when the trafficking of persons has decreased. Deep cleaning such as: mopping, washing/wiping of walls, doors, door knobs, counters, tile grout spaces and the likes. Surface cleaning such as: mopping in small areas at a time, dusting and wiping should happen throughout the day with a sign off check sheet of bathrooms every 15-20 minutes. Cleaning staff assigned to a particular area should be visibly available should an emergency arise. Seminars and training for the cleaning staff should be frequent to boost morale and productivity. Offer staff incentives for exceptional performances. I know that the cleaning is subcontracted but they have got to step up their game! Performance appraisals should be done regularly so that the deficient area/s could be adjusted promptly.

Each one must take a look in the mirror and try their best to operate in the spirit of excellence for a better Public Health Care System and ultimately a better Bahamas. Together We Can!

THE TAYLORS

Nassau,

March 27, 2019.