Senator criticises refusal to answer questions on hospital
An independent senator expressed frustration over a lack of direct answers to questions on hospital management.
Jon Wight pointed out that the Ministry of Health faced nine questions regarding King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, but got no responses.
Lauren Bell, the Junior Minister of Health, told senators earlier in the sitting that all answers to their questions were in the public domain, while another parliamentary question was struck from the record.
However, Mr Wight said: “I find it very disappointing when issues relevant to our community, which are raised in these chambers, are not discussed.
“I will say one more time that we do ourselves a disservice and we do our listening audience a disservice when we don’t discuss these issues.”
Mr Wight noted that he shared his disappointment with the lack of answers during the Budget process, where he said there was no time given to question the Ministry of Health.
From David Rogers:
1. Can the Junior Minister please provide the Senate with the Ministry of Health’s plan to systematically address chronic overcrowding in the Emergency Department at KEMH, considering that the Bermuda Hospitals Board appears to be approximately $30 million in debt?
2. Can the Junior Minister please provide the Senate with what the intended patient capacity of the Emergency Department without boarding is, as well as what is the actual capacity when boarding occurs in hallways and overflow areas?
3. Can the Junior Minister please explain what systems and processes are currently in place to ensure that boarded patients in the Emergency Department are treated with dignity, adequate privacy and basic hygiene on a daily basis?
From Victoria Cunningham:
1. Given repeated public assurances that an external operational review of the Emergency Department at KEMH is being treated as a matter of urgency, can the Junior Minister please inform the Senate when the external operational assessment was formally commissioned, by whom and under what terms of reference?
2. In relation to the external operational review of the Emergency Department, can the Junior Minister please confirm whether the scope of the review will explicitly address concerns about patient care and health being directly affected by prolonged boarding, overcrowding or delays in care?
3. Can the Junior Minister please inform the Senate how many acute care bed days were lost in the past year due to delayed discharges and what the estimated financial impact was?
From Tarik Smith:
1. Can the Junior Minister please inform the Senate how many long-term care and step-down beds are currently available island-wide and how does this compare with BHB’s projected demand over the next five years?
2. Can the Junior Minister please inform the Senate what surge capacity plans are in place to manage seasonal demand, infectious disease outbreaks, or mass casualty events when the Emergency Department at KEMH is already operating at full capacity?
3. Can the Junior Minister please provide assurance to the public, based on current operational data and safety standards, that patients attending the Emergency Department today can expect care delivered in a clinically safe environment? This question was later struck form the record.
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