Parents queue up to pay user fees for their children at the Bustamante Hospital for Children on January 24, 2005. Removal of child user fees at public hospitals in 2007 sparked a rush on the already burdened health sector, some experts say. - file

OFTEN CHILDREN have to wait until another patient is released to get admitted to a bed. They have to sleep on chairs in the arms of their parents until daylight for the comfort of a mattress.

That was the situation many patients and their parents had to endure for months at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, on Arthur Wint Drive in St Andrew, after the abolition of user fees at the facility on May 28, 2007.

A senior nurse who requested anonymity at the island's sole hospital for children told The Gleaner that receiving medical attention at the facility is often excruciating as the facility is primarily understaffed.

"It is very rough," sighed the nurse, "it was bad before (the free health-care regime) then it became very rough."

Pressure at facility

A rush on the facility, experienced after the implementation of free health care, has increased the ratio of patients to staff.

Tracy Wright, mother of an 11-year-old boy, said the shortage of staff at the facility can be frustrating to parents who do not understand what is happening.

Wright's son was admitted at the facility last month after one of his toes was broken.

The mother, who visited the facility at 8:00 a.m., said her son was not admitted until 10:00 p.m.

"I get through late but understand because they kept saying that they dealing with emergency cases first," said Wright.

The mother added: "Some parents there don't understand so they were quarrelling."

The long wait by parents sometimes continues until daylight, according to the senior nurse.

For instance, she said, within the accident and emergency department, children are sitting from 7:00 a.m. until midnight for medical attention.

Approximately 13 nurses were employed at the facility since this year. However, this is still ineffective as last year several other nurses resigned from the facility.

"They (the staff) are stressed. We can't get a break, so we are exhausted," said the health-care provider.

This particular nurse complained of severe stress, which she said contributed to her blood pressure rising to a high of 180/130 shortly after the abolition of user fees at the facility.

"Nurses are scared to come here because of the workload at Bustamante," she said.

She listed the size of the facility as another chronic situation faced at the hospital.

Sometimes, up to 40 patients are waiting for some 26 beds on a particular ward at the hospital, she said. In cases like this a chair usually becomes a bed.

"We pull beds from other rooms, but how many beds can we pull."

The size of the facility and the understaffed situation that exists aside, the senior nurse said with the abolition of user fees at hospitals, the Government should ensure that adequate medical supplies are provided to administer care to patients.

She said supplies like cups to serve medications frequently have to be sourced by the staff.

"One time, not even Panadol (pain suppresser) on the ward," she said.

The nurse has advised fellow colleagues to "brace themselves" when the abolition of user fees takes effect.

"Anything is expected ... we want our country to have healthy people but we implore the Government to give us what is necessary," she said.

Several calls were made to the chief executive officer of the facility but all were unsuccessful.