OPPOSITION MP Louise Jackson has added her voice to the debate over the new Hospitalist Programme at KEMH, calling the current system "unacceptable" and claiming it subverts the Hippocratic Oath, writes Clare O'Connor.

The Shadow Health Minister said that while she and the United Bermuda Party support the programme in principle, she is concerned that patients are being forced to make an 'all-or-nothing choice' for their care.

"Under the new system, people being admitted to the hospital are given a choice of care by either their GP or a hospitalist, who by training is a specialist in in-patient care," she said.

"If they choose their GP, they will not be treated until their GP arrives on the scene, even if junior doctors are available. This was not the case prior to the introduction of the hospitalist system when junior doctors attended to patients.

"It has been reported that GPs no longer get the full support of hospital staff. This all-or-nothing choice faced by patients is unacceptable. It even suggests that the Hippocratic Oath underlying the duties and obligations of physicians can be subordinated by this administrative divide."

Mrs. Jackson condemned the Hospitalist Programme for allowing bureaucracy to undermine patient care.

"There may be merit in the new hospitalist system at KEMH, but recent concerns expressed by doctors and patients indicate the system so far puts administrative considerations ahead of patient care," she said.

"The United Bermuda Party supports in principle the hospitalist system because of its potential to improve patient care. But we believe it is essential that the programme proceed on a more co-operative basis."

Mrs. Jackson responded to a report in last week's Mid-Ocean News that a stroke victim was left untreated for almost three days before being seen by a doctor. This oversight, she alleges, constitutes a broken promise by KEHM.

Mrs. Jackson has called for the Bermuda Hospitals Board to clarify the situation for concerned locals.

"A woman who suffered a stroke and chose to be treated by a hospitalist waited two days before being seen by one, contrary to a hospital promise that patients would be seen at least once a day," she said.

"The situation is clearly in need of clarification and reform. We therefore call upon the Bermuda Hospitals Board or the Health Minister to provide an anxious public with a full explanation of just what is going on at the hospital. People need to be assured that the hospital puts their interests first. Nothing else matters as much."