Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 05, 2014 News
…woman subsequently died at GPHC
By Leon Suseran
An 86- year- old West Coast Berbice woman died Thursday evening at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) after she was previously admitted to the Fort Wellington Hospital in Region Five for hypertension.
Additionally, the family of Julia Melville of Lot 289 Number 8 Village, West Coast Berbice, is claiming that the woman’s death was as a result of her being hit in the head and face by two nurses at the Fort Wellington Hospital.
According to the woman’s niece Vernie Melville, her aunt was admitted on Tuesday afternoon for high blood pressure.
She said that she left with the woman’s daughter and other relatives to return on Wednesday. “When I went to the hospital, she was quite okay so we all left. On Wednesday, we visited at 4 o’ clock. After getting in there, we noticed the saline was off and her hands were bleeding and the whole bed had blood.”
Her daughter, Oslyn, reportedly told one of the nurses on duty at the time (name provided), “that something is wrong with the patient. Apparently she [the nurse] did not hear. She [the nurse] sent a cleaner to call her and she told the cleaner something and then walked away,” Melville told this newspaper.
The woman’s daughter then attempted to seek assistance from another nurse on duty (name provided), but she “was playing a game or something on her phone and she was not listening to Oslyn…she did not get up…About ten minutes after, the ward sister Peters then requested that the nurse clean the patient.”
“She [the nurse] then walked into the room but did not look after the patient. The ward sister then apologized for what had happened,” she added. The woman’s daughter then reportedly exchanged words with the nurses and cautioned them to take better care to her mother.
Then during the Thursday morning visit, the family noticed that the patient’s face was swollen. “The head was swollen on the right side and also the face, so we touched her and right away we would have noticed there was a stroke, because [of] the way she was speaking.”
“She kept telling us, ‘they ill-treated me last night—they beat me—and I did calling for police, for help, for murder—they really ill treat me. The porter boy from Hopetown and them two nurses, them ain’t treat me good. I want come out.’”
Other nurses were there and reportedly apologized for what had happened. They were apparently clueless as to what had allegedly transpired during the night.
Julia Melville was later discharged in an unconscious state and sent home that Thursday morning. The family then sought other medical help. They said that they proceeded to perform a CT scan at a private facility where the family is convinced she was struck in the head several times.
“She could not walk, she could not talk…she was immediately rushed to Dr. Ramesh Sugrim on the Corentyne,” stated her niece. She was later admitted to the emergency unit at the GPHC where she subsequently died Thursday evening.
When asked why the nurses might have done this, the niece stated, “Maybe because the daughter told them [the nurses] they have to be professional and need to promote health care in a proper way.”
The family is calling for a thorough investigation into the woman’s death.
When contacted last evening, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Berbice Regional Health Authority (BRHA), Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo was unaware of the matter. “I won’t be able to say anything.
Region Five has its own Regional Health Officer (RHO), he added, “but I’m sure they will order a post mortem once something like that has happened.”
Efforts to reach the RHO of Region 5 and the Doctor-in-charge of the Fort Wellington Hospital proved futile.
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