Dear editor
The lack of beds at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) has forced doctors to discharge patients notwithstanding in poor condition.
This action followed a directive by the hospital management to decongest the hospital after overcrowding of patients has made it difficult for doctors to work at the Accident and Emergency Unit.
“You know, this is originally a 650-beded hospital but as at now, the patients that we had are in excess of a thousand. So, which means that we have literally tripled the number of patients that we should have at the hospital. So that was why we had to discharge patients and tell them to continue taking their medicines at home around their family and friends,” a nurse who demanded anonymity said in a conversation.
“This morning there were some patients but fortunately they have been moved in from the A&E Unit to the Medical and Surgical Wards because space was created for them to move. At the moment, we are asking certain patients to go home, they can be drinking their medicine, we’ll give them appointments to come back for check-up except the dire emergencies will be taken in for admission.”
This no-bed syndrome has resulted in the premature discharge of a 56-year-old woman after she was rushed to the Emergency Unit of the EFSTH and found to have suffered acute Anemia.
The woman (name withheld) was reportedly admitted and was discharged on Friday, May 24 just for her to suffer agonising seizures which caused the woman to be in a state of coma until present date.
According to the patient’s Escort, the doctor [name withheld] neglected the patient leaving her unattended for over three hours causing her harm in a way that a competent doctor, under the same circumstances, would not have.
Formerly known as the Royal Victoria Hospital, RVH and later RVTH, the EFSTH is a 650-bedded hospital built in 1853 by the British Government. It is the leading referral hospital in The Gambia and is currently a Teaching Hospital to train Gambians to become doct
Name and address withheld on request
it’s a terrible joke!
Dear editor
The easiest bit in the politics of a Third World country is to win elections and assume political power in the country. The most difficult bits are to stand up for the national economic development interest of your country in the face of the avalanche of vested interest who are only interested in making money for themselves.
And that’s why it’s very important to entrust people with the management of the national economy (the government) who have some understanding of the politics of national development and serving the national interest.
What good does it serve to put someone in charge of managing the national economy only for them to sell off our public assets, privatize the best bits of national economy and load up the country with more and more national debt?
And that’s exactly the so-called National Development Plan of the Barrow Government. The Barrow government is not standing up for the national economic development interest of The Gambia.
The Barrow government is hell bent on selling off our public assets and privatising the best bits of our national economy to vested interest in the name of attracting foreign investors. How can such a callous national development plan be a credible development plan for The Gambia?
If the Barrow government really wanted to develop the Gambian economy and improve the living standards of the people, he would make his government the number one investor into the economic development of the country. Don’t tell me that the government doesn’t have funds or our national debt is too much.
If our government doesn’t become the number one investor in developing our national economy, forget it guys. Nothing much will change in the economic life of the majority of our people.
What about the primary school technocrat ministers who are misleading the president into adopting economic development policies that will never lead to any national economic development in The Gambia?
Anyone who understands anything about about how to build a national economy, create employment, provide public services for the people and improve their living standards, the core national economic development policies of the Barrow government are no way near the actual economic development policies that The Gambia Government should be pursuing.
Basically, Gambian political leadership is just about assuming political responsibility of the management of the national economy. But the government is under no obligation to provide the people with public services and affordable living standards.
Instead, the government sells of our public assets and privatize the best bits of our national economy. Public officials who are supposed to serve the national economic development interest of the country and the people just enrich themselves by taking bribes to sell off our national economy.
That’s irresponsible political leadership. There’s no sense of urgency from the government to develop the country and improve the living standards of the people.
The Gambia is a sovereign country using its own national currency. The government of The Gambia has the capacity and scope to set its monetary and fiscal policies that will create employment, economic growth, provision of public services, national development and improving the living standards of the people.
Why is the Barrow government talking about the constitution of feeder roads and bore holes as its national development plan when we don’t even have a proper hospital in the country?
But individual senior members of the government are just living off the people, selling off our public assets and not doing anything to develop the national economy and improve the living standards of the people. Is that what political leadership is about?
Yusupha ‘Major’ Bojang
Brikama
