A MASSIVE rush at one of Bahrain’s main hospitals has again resulted in emergency patients being treated on stretchers and waiting several hours to be seen by staff.
As many as 100 people at times crowded into the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) Accident and Emergency Department yesterday.
It is equipped with 42 beds, meaning it was operating at more than twice its capacity – despite having just two consultant doctors on duty.
The absence of some staff, who were undergoing training ahead of the forthcoming Formula One race, added to the workload.
Meanwhile, the situation was compounded by systems disruption at the BDF Hospital, which the GDN exclusively reported on Friday, had to cancel all appointments because its data network crashed on Wednesday.
“There are only 14 beds in each of the three rooms at the emergency department – rooms A, B and C,” said an SMC staff member on condition of anonymity.
“We had at least 24 patients in A room, with another 10 on ambulance trolleys.
“In B room it was close to 30 patients and the scene was no different in C room as well.
“Those who have visited the emergency department will know how small these rooms are and how difficult it is to accommodate double the usual number of patients from different genders and age groups.
“Moreover, BDF Hospital has cancelled all its appointments and patients were referred to SMC – adding to the crowd.
“Luckily, we did not have any major crisis. But in an emergency, anything can happen.”
The GDN witnessed some emergency patients waiting to be seen on ambulance stretchers in hospital corridors yesterday.
Some were not attended to by a doctor or nurse for more than eight hours.
“We cannot attend to them outside the emergency rooms as it is not allowed, according to protocol,” explained the staff member.
“If something happens to the patient, we are answerable to the National Health Regulatory Authority.”
To make matters worse, more than 30 patients declared fit to go home over the weekend were still waiting to be picked up by relatives yesterday.
“These (discharged) patients are still occupying beds because their families did not come to take them home,” added the staff member.
“This adds to the crisis, as there is no bed rotation and patients have to be retained at the emergency department.
“As a result, new patients cannot be attended to.”
Another staff member said less than half the number of consultant emergency doctors were on duty yesterday.
“There were only two consultants managing these three (accident and emergency) rooms,” they said on condition of anonymity.
“There should be at least five, but most of them were at F1 training.
“Two consultants cannot manage so many patients, even with a full team of nurses.”
A similar situation occurred at SMC in March last year, when 110 patients were still waiting in the accident and emergency department shortly before midnight.
In February 2016 hospital staff told the GDN that a shortage of emergency doctors and nurses at SMC was putting patients’ lives at risk.
Trainees
Medics at the time said the department was relying on trainees and was understaffed by as much as 60 per cent, although officials denied the allegations.
One patient who visited the hospital last month revealed she had to wait at least four hours on a stretcher before she was seen by an accident and emergency doctor.
She was not transferred to a bed until almost eight hours after she arrived.
The Health Ministry did not comment when contacted by the GDN yesterday.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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