Trinidad: Scarborough General Hospital suspends elective surgeries over AC breakdown

Trinidad and Tobago: A breakdown of air conditioning units at the Scarborough General Hospital has disrupted services, forcing health authorities to suspend elective procedures and carry out emergency surgeries only.

Trinidad and Tobago Registered Nurses Association (TTRNA) President Idi Stuart said the association has identified a continuing problem within several units within the Scarborough General Hospital, inclusive of the theatres.

Stuart explained that the hospital has four theatres, one exclusive to eye surgeries and three general theatres, but only a fraction remains in service.

"There is only one functioning out of those three general service theatres," he said, noting this has forced the authority "to limit the number of surgeries and reduce it to the emergency surgeries only."

He added that the situation is causing some discomfort amongst the patient population.

The TTRNA said the breakdown redounds to non-functioning AC units that are affecting these theatres. Stuart said the problem has spread beyond the operating rooms, with a number of other units within Accident and Emergency, medical wards, and a number of other units also facing air conditioning issues.

Hospital management is "working feverishly to correct these shortcomings,"Stuart said. However, he stressed that given “the immense heat that we have been facing as a country over the last couple days," the lack of cooling "is indeed causing some difficulties for both patients and staff."

The situation has drawn reactions from local residents as a user commented, “From one thing to the next if is not water is lights if its not lights is ac from one thing to the next if yall want a good AC technician message me cause the ones who sees about those ac is a waste of time, give the small men them a food to eat now.”

Another user commented, “The question is where can the Government find equipments that would always function perfectly without any of them breaking down at anytime because this is nothing new or unusual AC breaks down everywhere most importantly no lives have been lost due to the situation..Praying politics dont destroy this country.”

The TTRNA said it hopes the issues are treated with in a timely manner to bring ease to the patient population and that services resume at the theatres in the hospital.