Orville Taylor, Contributor
Familiarity breeds contempt. Thankfully, contempt did not produce a child or attempt to have a delivery at 'Lyin in,' also known as the Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH), because it would run the risk of having complications. After last week, my vocabulary has been expanded by at least one word, 'autoclave.'
Sounding uncannily like 'autoclapse,' or as we say in Jamaica 'attaclaps,' an autoclave is a strong vessel used for chemical reactions at high pressures and temperatures. More simply, it is a steriliser that uses high-pressure steam.
It is a normally occurring apparatus in hospitals and laboratories.
In the Department of Biochemistry, at the University of the West Indies (UWI), which is a research facility, there are three such machines. Within the biotechnology department there are two, and several others are located within the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences of the UWI.
The University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) has eight units, including four in its Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, which performs the same set of functions as the VJH. UHWI also has another unit that is 'still in the plastic' waiting to be installed.
Based on information, it is believed that all of the major private hospitals have at least one sterilisation unit because it is impossible to give proper medical or surgical care without having instruments that are free from microbial presence. In the saving of human lives, doctors are as close as we can get to being God, and cleanliness is next to godliness. Nastiness can kill you and patients as well.
What most Jamaicans don't know is that the UHWI has been bailing out the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), which is where the VJH is located, for some time now. Around twice a week, equipment is sent to the UHWI for sterlising. This service is provided free of cost. Thus, the operations of the KPH/VJH are subsidised by the UHWI.
Great shame
Given that 'Jubilee' is supposed to be not only the main provider of obstetric care in the Caribbean, and is charged with being the final place of referral for such patients, it is a source of great shame.
Only a lover of horror movies in the vein of the Twilight Zone, Aliens, and The Fly could appreciate the stories of the operating theatre teeming with flies and one must wonder why a female-only ward should have cockroaches.
Perhaps only the environmentalists might be encouraged by a robust population of birds, which make the area fertile with their copious deposits of droppings.
In any event, it is a different type of fertility that is managed at the VJH.
Nonetheless, it is not encouraging that the birds are doves, although this symbol of peace would be welcome in the volatile inner-city community of central Kingston.
How can a hospital function without linen for lying-in? Why has it waited until the problem escalated before the elevator is repaired?
The matter that brought the despicable state of affairs to the fore was one where a 41-year-old new mother lost her baby because she was unable to have a Caesarean section (C-section) delivery.
C-sections are normal occurrences as some 15 per cent of Jamaican births are via this procedure. This 'small' group of women sometimes takes great pride in the fact that the child could not pass through the vaginal channel, much like the rich man and the camel in the Biblical proverb.
Admittedly, a first birth for a mature woman is a risky business, and doctors tend to exercise more caution when the patient is over 35 years old. They refer to such patients as 'elderly prima gravida.' However, there is absolutely no reason why there should be any postponement when compulsory surgery is to be had.
After all, the main obstetric facility should deliver top-of-the-line service and if surgery is required, the equipment must be cutting edge.
Two years ago, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, I rued the absence of a stand-by generator at the KPH and the shortage of a proper water supply. It is inconceivable that nurses, doctors and other health services workers could be expected to perform under such conditions. It makes one sick just from thinking about it.
The government should be thankful that the nurses and doctors have settled their wage dispute. To them, I would take off my hat but only if they get an autoclave to prevent the transmission of germs.
Worrisome reaction
What is worrisome is that the Ministry of Health showed little urgency in communicating to the public, despite the Medical Association of Jamaica calling a press conference on Thursday.
Indeed, one very senior official of the ministry asked an inquiring reporter whether she did not have roaches at home as well. That response was not only inappropriate but less than clinical.
This makes me wonder whether we should not change our system of governance to a republican one which allows us to appoint ministers from outside of the shallow pool of politicians with no technocratic skills.
We need to be able to put the best and most capable persons in charge of our critical sectors. After all, what equips a lawyer, teacher, or businessman/woman to be health minister? With the best of intentions, most politicians have to spend a considerable period simply learning the ropes while the nation suffers.
Having a politician or lawyer as health minister is almost a bad as appointing an inarticulate speaker as a spokesman, a cobbler or cattle specialist as a media mogul or a sociologist as a journalist.
Dr. Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the University of the West Indies, Mona.
