doctors

Just days after decrying her stay at the Princess Margaret Hospital, a woman died from health complications.

Kenise Darville took to social media last week Wednesday in a more than 20-minute live stream video where she condemned PMH for its quality of healthcare.

The video went viral and blood donations were made to get her back to good health. She was said to be doing well since Tuesday when her husband Jerad posted to social media, “Because of your support we now have the best doctors tending to her. She is in special care and has improved tremendously in her spirits.”

Kenise’s passionate video showed her with tears streaming down her cheeks as she cried, “It [inadequate care] needs to stop. They [hospital staff members] are reckless, nonchalant, no empathy.”

Though details are limited as to the sickness she suffered and how she died, Kenise said she suffered from back pain which prompted her to check into the hospital at 3 am on January 2^nd. Showing blood bruises on her hands, she complained that her blood count was low which doctors confirmed was at 20,000. This prevented her blood from clotting.

Kenise anticipated that doctors would order more platelets as promised but said they later returned on the eleventh suggesting that she seek blood donation from family and friends. At this time, her blood count was at seven thousand.

“These people doing a whole bunch of foolishness,” she said angrily. No hospital is supposed to run like this. PMH needs to be exposed.”

Kenise said had she known earlier, she could have asked family for blood donations a lot sooner.

“They didn’t see the urgency in that. They sit by and let all these days pass. No doctor came to see me on Friday. The weekend is hell. It’s worst on holidays.”

She was soon prompted to stop the ranting and recording by a nurse who stopped by her room where she lay in isolation.

“Miss, at this point, some people just have to go down for a cause and this a course I’m ready to go down for,” she said.

“When will you’ll start caring for people inside this hospital?” she asked the nurse.

The mother of three boys who was also the owner of a creative shop said her mother died weeks earlier and was buried three days prior to her admittance to the hospital.

And though she knew the bad experiences at the medical center, she had no medical insurance to receive private care at Doctor’s Hospital.

“No hospital suppose to run like this. PMH needs to be exposed.

“They [doctors] don’t read your notes and ask what you in here for. It’s ridiculous.

“This entire system just needs to change.”

The sobering comment by Former Health Minister Duane Sands has set off a public debate mixed with fury and uncertainty.

Sands on a local radio station, Guardian Radio, “The Hitback,” with Nahaja Black, said the heightened case of coronavirus in the country has placed doctors in a position to decide who lives and who dies.

The earnest reality of the pandemic has caused doctors to place patients with other life-threatening diseases like heart disease and cancer on the back burner, causing some to die.

With a high degree of certainty, the former minister said, “I understand the implications of my comment…that is happening now.”

Other countries have done the same

Physicians in the United States of America, Canada, and Italy have already been forced to make such moral decisions.

These countries have larger populations and the unexpected wave of the virus has filled their hospitals beyond capacity. Back in early March, Italy’s health system said there were too many patients for each one to receive adequate care. So, the Italian College of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI)  published guidelines that doctors should follow as cases worsen.

These patients should be left to die as they place demands on scarce medical resources, according to the document written by a group of medical doctors.

• Patients that are old
• Patients with comorbidities
• Patients who require intensive care

They are guided by the utilitarian approach which stresses the principle, “the greatest good for the largest number,” which would ensure that patients with the highest chance of survival will access intensive care.

Doctors in the Bahamas are reaching that point

When health facilities are full to capacity, physicians are placed in a position where they are unable to manage and provide care for a patient who may need respiratory assistance.

Dr. Nikkiah Forbes, director of the Infectious Disease Programme said she has not personally seen a patient die because of the ability to provide care, but the country is close.

“If we continue beyond capacity, those difficult decisions may have to be made,” she said.

Health workers confirmed that the Bahamas is in a surge and the system is being pushed beyond capacity, emphasizing that the ability to provide care in that environment is challenging.