The paper quotes an unnamed source as saying that the SWRHA’s board had to hire private personnel because of a severe shortage of doctors at the hospital.
It also quotes one doctor as saying the practice will stop when the hospital has the required personnel.
The problem grew worse following the death of a patient - Chrystal Ramsoomair at the hospital on March 4 after undergoing a third Cesarean section.
The paper says medical sources have confirmed that the hospital began hiring private practitioners about a month ago when administrative heads at the hospital realised that it had a backlog of Cesarean sections.
The paper says its sources have noted that while the Cesarean procedure has to be done because of the urgency elective surgeries have been put on hold and the gynaecological clinic has not been functioning. Some patients have to wait up to six months or even longer for surgeries, the paper says.
The Guardian quotes Dr Shehenaz Mohammed, general secretary of the Medical Professionals Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MPATT), as saying that over the last few years health professionals have refused to work in the public health sector for various reasons.
“This has had a serious impact on the delivery of one of the country’s most critical “public goods” and needs to be rectified...There must be continuous human resource development which must be in keeping with technological advances in health care,” Mohammed as quoted as saying.
The paper says it contacted SWHRA's chairman Dr Lackram Bodoe who has not yet responded to a list of questions submitted to him.
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