Berbice family alleges neglect at NA Hospital following death of 22-Y-O woman
Family members are alleging that the sudden death of a 22-year-old woman was a result of gross neglect at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital in Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
In addition to having to wait for over two hours to see a doctor on Saturday, the patient was sent home without being treated and told to return on Monday. However, she died on Sunday, thus leaving her family outraged.
It was on Saturday morning that 22-year-old Farzana Khan of Lot 7 West Canefield, Eat Canje, was rushed to the hospital by relatives after complaining of feeling unwell.
Farzana Khan in a wheelchair during one of her visits to the hospital
Even though her blood pressure was very high, they had to wait for about two hours before a doctor from the Accident and Emergency Unit attended to her.
Her aunt, Shameeza Khan, who has been taking care of her niece for the past 12 years, was not too pleased with the services at the hospital and more importantly, the tragic outcome.
“When we finally go in and see the doctor, they give meh niece the medication and a paper to go to the lab to do a test… when we reach the lab, the guy there said that I have to go back Monday to do the test. The guy at the lab come out and I showed him the paper and he asked me if she was getting pain and I told [him] ‘yes’. He said that he can’t do the test now let me come back Monday morning. He said certain test, you have to fast before taking them. I asked the doctor and the doctor said that it was a random test.”
The aggrieved aunt related that at the time, the laboratory at the hospital was open. The woman was taken back to the New Amsterdam Hospital at about 19:00h on Sunday with a very low pulse and shortly after, she passed away.
“She take in more at home the night and I carried her back to the hospital and she passed away,” Khan added.
Farzana worked as a Government 10-day part-time worker at the Cumberland Health Centre. Referring to her niece as being paralysed, Khan said she became ill at the age of 13 years.
The aunt, who was summoned to a meeting with the CEO of the New Amsterdam Hospital on Monday, said she believes that things would have been different had the lab done the required test and doctors been in a better position to determine her condition.
Meanwhile, as the hospital conducts its investigations, the family is against an autopsy. The hospital has already determined that she died from cardiac arrest.
