‘Staff spirit’ keeping KPH alive
Nearly half 2,000 backlog of surgeries cleared under Code Care project
Published:Saturday | October 7, 2023 | 12:08 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
WITHIN EIGHT days, five nurses from the diaspora were able to work with surgeons and other staff at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) to complete 23 additional surgeries under the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ Code Care project.
The project is an initiative which aims to reduce the backlog of elective surgeries after the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, this public-private partnership engages specialist nurses and support staff such as operating theatre nurses, post-anaesthetic care unit nurses and recovery room nurses from the diaspora – the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom – where there is a strong Jamaican presence. The nurses are engaged on short-term stints from seven to 14 days.
Apart from the additional surgeries, nurses Carol Williams, Joan Gayle-Davenport, Deborah Maddox, Natalie Williams and Joan Williams-Wilks, along with members of KPH’s medical staff, is set to perform 13 scheduled surgeries outside of project Code Care with a set of seven patients that are scheduled for surgery today.
On Friday, a Code Care project send-off ceremony was held at the hospital to recognise and show appreciation to the five nurses who lent a hand in helping to clear the backlog.
Dr Stephanie Reid, chairman of KPH, stated that “what keeps KPH alive is the spirit of the staff”.
TEAM COMMENDED
In a reflection of the time that she attended a meeting regarding the Code Care programme and the various challenges that KPH had, Reid commended the willingness of Samantha Nicholson Spence, senior medical officer at KPH, and her team to move ahead with the programme despite such challenges faced.
“As you know, KPH is an old hospital ... . It’s around 240 years [old], and so the structure itself has done its time, and we’re still working with it, doing repairs here and there,” she said.
Reid added that some of the challenges included the hospital’s electrical and plumbing systems that were quickly deteriorating and in desperate need of attention.
“We are expecting equipment, and you know the equipment that are coming in now are all new technology and one of our greatest concerns is how are we going to accommodate these equipment,” she said.
On the bright side, Reid stated that she has received assurance from Dunstan Bryan, permanent secretary in the health ministry, that major work will be done to upgrade the hospital’s electrical system.
She also expressed gratitude to the nurses, doctors and other members of staff who have been giving of their best amid the challenges, noting that in some instances, even “basic equipment” was lacking.
Reid expressed confidence that the patients who have gone through the Code Care programme would “be able to get back into society, [and] be useful to themselves and their families”.
In a Gleaner interview, Maddox, a registered nurse and operating room specialist from The Marshall Islands, commended the KPH staff for being accommodating as she worked with them in the main operational room.
ADMIRABLE QUALITY
She said that despite the various challenges, the staff would make do with what they had and that this was an admirable quality.
“I think the spirit here at this hospital is unmatched,” she said, noting that what was of high importance and what she and others were most concerned with was that “the patient is safe, [has] no infections, and had a positive outcome”.
She added that many of the challenges faced in Jamaica’s healthcare she has also experienced while working in The Marshall Islands and in the US Virgin Islands.
“I enjoyed being here in Kingston; [there’s] a lot of activity going on. I told somebody that ‘they drive like they are in Manhattan but that’s okay, I’m used to that’,” she said jokingly, adding that she also enjoyed the Jamaican cuisine and appreciated the hospitality.
“I hope that I am invited to come back, and I would like to help in any way I can, other than just nursing,” she said.
Nicholson Spence expressed that during the pandemic, the hospital had to make various changes on how to conduct its operations, resulting in “all hands on deck”, where all doctors across the hospital helped to manage and treat COVID-19 patients.
“Fortunately, all this is behind us, but unfortunately, one of the issues [which arose] is that we had a significant backlog of surgical cases; one, because the surgeons were busy treating the COVID patients, and two, because at the time, we weren’t sure about the spread of the illness and there were certain measures that had to be taken before you bring someone to the operating theatre,” she explained.
She continued that the visiting nurses had left “quite an impact” as they helped with the surgical backlog.
Permanent Secretary Bryan, in response to questions posed by The Gleaner, relayed that 142 surgeries had been performed by private facilities in the South Eastern Regional Health Authority since the commencement of the Code Care project, and 308 at the Western Regional Health Authority.
Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, in his contribution to the 2023-24 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives in May, stated that the Code Care project had completed 950 surgeries of its 2,000 target at that time.