manuc

if any lawyers are reading this in Barbados do get in touch with me - please go through my earlier thread on qeh? does our experience amount to mental agony, i would like to sue QEH for negligence. do we have a case?

i dont want to earn any money from this, would be happy to donate everything out of this to a charity - but i want someone to help shake up the system - QEH is the biggest health care provider on the island and i think the ppl here deserve more

Serendipidy

Hi Manuc

Sorry to hear of your terrible experiences with your wife and your brand new baby - everyone in Barbados knows that the services at QEH could be improved but the more you fight with them right now i suspect the less the co operation you will get - maybe focus on the blessings here for the present just to get you over your initial anger and focus on the positives as i can imagine a brand new baby safely delivered must be a positive thing.

Im in the UK at the moment and i wont even begin to tell you of the nightmares i have had with my diagnosis and being hours away from a hysterectomy which was not required.

I dont wanna be patronising but i think if you continue to completely dwell on the inefficient service you have received so far you are not going to be able support your wife and new baby in the way they may need you right now.

To sue the QEH hospital you would be presuming they have money and they dont - hence many of the issues - hope that u can see past some of your issues and get to enjoy your new born soon

manuc

thanks, i know we need to focus on the blessing, but man is this getting out of hand - down to no working elevators keeping the mom away from her baby

anyway i dont want to sue them for money - thats the last thing i need, i just want to highlight the incomeptency and hope againt hope that some citizens take up the cause and fight the government and force better healthcare - something citizens here really deserve

thanks agains for putting things in perspective

neal brown

I blame the Barbados government this was going on for many years i talking since the early 80s people been complaining,all the managements does is steal all they can get from the hospital from food to equiptment it is very sad and nobody seems to care,many people dies at the QEH due to neglegence and slow action.I am wondering why it has the name Queencan any country name something after the queen that has such a bad reputation,mmmmmmmmmmm giving the Queen Elizabeth a very bad name.

Ikon

It seems terribly negative to leap to "Let's sue them!"

I've read both of your posts thoroughly, and I'm wondering what the hospital management have said? Have you made a formal complaint and offered them any opportunity to explain/apologise for the issues?

As other users have pointed out, the resources at QEH are obviously scarce. We need to work with them rather than bombarding them with litigation that they can't afford and in the long-run will only compromise healthcare for more Barbadians in the future.

As is often the case in these situations, the "powers-that-be" probably don't know about several aspects of your situation, and need the chance to address certain policies and individuals. I don't believe the first chance you give them to do this needs to be litigation. After all, your child seems to be fit and healthy.

neal brown

Ikon if you was in our situation you will be singing a different song,dont you understand that there are thousands of complaints about the QEH,dont you understand that this situation was going on for more than 25 years,how much more time and sympathy do these people need,dont anybody has sympathy for the patients.

Ikon

Of course I have sympathy - but my question was for the original poster. Has he even sought redress through the proper channels before making the situation worse with litigation? There's no mention of it.

I don't see who it would help by suing them? Everybody knows how bad the situation is, so the publicity is unnecessary and will only divert funds away from the positive steps that need taking.

I'm certain there are a great number of people at the QEH who would like to improve the situation - but they need to hear about it straightaway and be given opportunity to put it right. The first recourse shouldn't be litigation. I don't see who it would help.

And I don't see making a complaint to the management as giving them "sympathy" - I see it as common sense. Taking money you don't need, from someone who can't afford to give it, is a fool's errand.

manuc

Ikon, of course i am probably not going to sue them - that was my complete frustration

i have sent my feedback to QEH and the ministry of health - that was sunday - i hope someone takes notice

i checked in the hospital on who to lodge a complaint with - the head of the nursing department - well this lady was not at all interested in listening to me - apparently when they have 600 patients they cannot cater to the requirements of a single patient and our expecting a wheelchair to take my wife back from the first floor to the second floor in less than 70 minutes was not right - any thoughts on who to lodge the complaint with at the hospital? the powers in the hospital are holier than thou and honestly unless a citizen's group sues them they wont wake up

Ikon

Well I hope the QEH can resolve your complaint, and the Ministry of Health if not.

In truth, if I was in your position I'd move on. I'm sure with a new baby there are bigger things to worry about now. It's unfortunate that you've experienced poor service at the hands of the QEH, and delinquent individuals, but I'm sure the great majority of staff at the hospital want and are working towards improvement.

I'm sure nobody goes into a caring profession without wanting to deliver the best CARE they can. It's unfortunate you were left feeling like you didn't get that, but everyone has a bad day and whenever an organisation works to a budget there are priorities to be made. I'm sure, for example, the 70 minutes you waited for a wheelchair wasn't because some orderly was sat on his bum somewhere, I imagine they're desperately short-staffed which comes down to budgets/the Ministry. I hope the changes in management will result in budgets being spent more wisely, or cash being allocated first and foremost to staffing.

I know the political reality of the situation doesn't do much for what your partner went through, I'm just trying to stick up for the staff. It's easy to say the QEH is a shambles, the staff are hopeless etc. but I don't think that's the ultimate problem. The hospital management and the government are at the heart of this - but the culture in Barbados seems to be that people are scared to criticise the government!!!

manuc

hey i didnt say the staff are hopeless - i had two bad staff experiences - the rest were awesome - in my other post i have even stated that one was like a guardian angel - except two of them the rest were just so so awesome

as for hospital mgmnt - are u condoning lack of working elevators?

Ikon

Actually, yeah - things go wrong, however much money/good management is thrown at it. If that was the only occasion the elevators didn't work all year, I wouldn't think they'd done anything wrong. Unfortunately, someone is affected when things go wrong but that's life. Nothing's perfect.

If it's a CONSISTENT problem that they're not working, or they weren't rushing to REPAIR them - then I think there's a problem. I would hope that when the QEH respond to your complaint, they can explain exactly what they were doing to remedy the situation - I think you did mention they were working again at some later point?

manuc

yeah we found one elevators working on Sunday and Monday - again a bit of a risk to have one working - dont you think?

hey listen dont get me wrong, if this was a resort or something non critical i would not even bother reacting, like you said things go wrong - who cares?; we all have our share of bad experiences - but this is a hospital - i would have loved to see it being managed better

Ikon

Of course, but sometimes management is invisible - I think you have to wait to see the response, this is Barbados and things move at a slow pace. Maybe the hospital were tearing their hair out, waiting on the lift company? We live on an island where parts aren't always readily available etc.

I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm just saying you kind of have to wait and see the attitude from management when/if they respond to you. I'm just trying to see it from the point of view of the hospital and what might have gone wrong.

manuc

sure enough, if i hear from the hospital, i will post the update and hopefully clear their name - this is a rare time where i would be happy if i get a response which forces me to eat my words

manuc

P.S. it is not just about the elevator not working, its the availability of one OT which delayed the c section meaning my wife was without food / water from midnight to 3 PM before a drip was given.

it is about being left stranded in the neo-natal icu for 70 minutes waiting for an orderly - this happened less than 12 hour after the procedure - my wife was left sitting for 70 minutes despite the medical requirement that she should be on bed-rest.... and i did follow-up for an orderly from the 30th minute onwards... i understand things can be slow but isnt this a bit ridiculous?

but like i said if the mgmnt is able to addrss these points i would be more than happy to eat my words (we all need to feel confident that our health care provider is doing what it can!)