Riled up over dialysis

Patients and staff at the University Hospital of the West Indies’ (UHWI) haemodialysis unit have expressed frustration over what they see as management’s attempts to downplay their concerns about the facility’s inadequate resources.

The Gleaner had previously reported on the concerns of dialysis patients at the facility over the renal unit’s substandard facilities which they said affected the quality and consistency of their care.

Among the issues they pointed to were the constant malfunctioning of dialysis machines and the water treatment unit, along with a general shortage of resources.

However, their concerns were met with a quick rebuttal from the hospital’s management that extolled the strides the hospital has been making to address the needs of patients in kidney failure.

Long wait

Last week Friday, The Gleaner observed a frustrated *John Brown sitting on a bench outside the hospital’s haemodialysis unit. He later shared that he had arrived for his scheduled 9 a.m. dialysis treatment, only to be told he would have to wait an additional two hours because four dialysis machines were out of service. He suggested that, because of the additional wait, the driver of the taxi he chartered pursued other clients.

“Mi haffi wait longer, and when mi call di taxi man him a seh ‘bwoy mi did tell yuh seh mi aguh start tek up some people, yuh haffi go wait till three or two hour time’,” he said.

Visibly worried, Brown shared that he had spent the last of his money to charter the taxi to the hospital and was now concerned that the delay would make him unable to return home.

“If mi di have money different, mi tek a different taxi up di road, but a $1,000 dem charge fi carry yuh home. Mi used to tek di bus when mi cudda manage, but it nuh coming like one time, mi cya manage the bus again, it hard man,” he said.

He has been receiving treatment at the UHWI for more than 12 years, he said, and the infrastructure has declined over time, affecting the quality and consistency of his care, an issue The Gleaner highlighted in the earlier article.

Another patient, who requested anonymity, said he has been receiving dialysis treatment at the hospital for more than a decade and is alarmed at what he described as the deteriorating condition of the unit.

“The first session is supposed to start at 7 sharp in the morning, people will come from wherever they come from, and I mean wherever like country, they’ll come from the day before so they can get their space. And at 7:00 o’clock when they are to start the treatment, they are told that the water pump breaks down, and they don’t get treatment until two, three o’clock in the afternoon,” he said.

Stating that it’s “a constant, constant thing”, the patient said all the other shifts are delayed as a result.

The patient also highlighted the deteriorating condition of the dialysis chairs, the lifting floor tiles which he described as a safety hazard, and the frequent breakdowns of the machines.

The Gleaner was informed that six of the unit’s 14 machines were not working on the day.

“You’re dealing with life, these machines are our replacement kidneys, we can’t live without them,” the patient said.

Dialysis is a medical procedure that helps remove extra fluid and waste products from the blood when the kidneys are no longer able to perform this function.

A staff member who spoke to The Gleaner on condition of anonymity expressed shock at the hospital management’s response to the patients’ public airing of their concerns. The staff member described it as an attempt to “shove the issues under the rug”, instead of addressing them.

Water treatment system

Validating the concerns of the patients, the staff member also disputed management’s claim that there were 21 functioning dialysis machines in the facility, claiming instead that there were only 14.

The staff member also lamented the frequent breakdown of the water treatment system, an essential component of dialysis. This, the employee said, was due to lack of efficient maintenance of the overworked system.

The staff member also stated that the building housing the unit was not originally designed for dialysis services and is often cramped.

“They should have used the opportunity to say ‘yes, we have challenges, we hope that we could can get corporate entities on board, other institutions to help’,” the staff member said.

Despite multiple calls and messages since last week Friday, The Gleaner has received no further response from the UHWI management.

In its April 11 statement in response to the earlier Gleaner report, UHWI said, “Contrary to the implications in the article, the UHWI remains the largest and most advanced provider of renal dialysis in Jamaica.”

It added: “We acknowledge that no healthcare system is without challenges, but we reject the notion that the UHWI is failing its renal patients. Instead, we stand firm in our dedication to continuous improvement, patient engagement, and high-quality, life-sustaining care.”

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com