Dennie Quill, Contributor

Many people have found it laughable that a 49-year-old man has been practising medicine at the University Hospital. But for many reasons I am not laughing and prefer to see the serious side of this sad episode. Had this 'quack' not stolen an employee's money he might still be ensconced at the major hospital in the nation's capital seeing patients and prescribing medicine.

The first concern is the breach of security. The University Hospital is the premier health care institution in Jamaica. It is a teaching hospital, no less, and security has to be one of the important considerations in any such designation. Security has emerged as the most important issue of the 21st century, but some institutions continue to pay scant regard to this matter.

Task of protecting

A hospital environment has scores of people moving in and out; these include patients, staff, vendors, doctors and visitors. Additionally, the hospital houses high-value equipment, critical records and has facilities to store drugs. The hospital administration therefore has a huge task to protect people, property and its reputation. And this can only be done with a good security plan which involves the entire hospital population being knowledgeable about potential risk, and being responsive.

How good can this plan be when a man can come off the street and pose as a doctor over a period of time? This man is so confident in carrying out his prank that he is even treating hospital staff and prescribing medicine. Patients who are admitted to a hospital are under the watch of the nurses, doctors and attendants and become their responsibility. How can their safety be guaranteed if people can breach the security system repeatedly? And what about those patients he has 'treated'? So far we do not know the impact of this doctor's activities. Is the hospital liable for any complications that may result? The 'doctor' could easily have arrived for work with a firearm and create a crisis at the hospital.

This incident must stir worry among the hospital staff and the Ministry of Health, for if it can happen at the University Hospital, what about smaller facilities in rural Jamaica?

I reiterate the point that security has to be everybody's business in an environment where there is not enough security dollars to ensure adequate safety. So someone in this hospital should have immediately recognised a stranger in their midst and raised an alarm.

Hospitals, like churches, operate on the principle that they are opened to the public and visitors may enter unchallenged. But we have come to realise that there are those among us who hold nothing sacred; churches must now secure amplifiers and air conditioning units with heavy grills and locks. Similarly, the days of allowing persons to walk into a hospital unchallenged are over. It has become necessary, inconvenient, yes, for hospital visitors to be identified and their movement and access controlled. Think of the potential damage that could be caused if someone with criminal intent should gain access to the operating theatres, laboratories, pharmacy, kitchen or food service area.

Not enough resources

The number one argument that we will hear from the hospitals is that they do not have enough resources to implement a high-tech security programme. But not all solutions need to be high-tech. Even when all the machinery is in place something can go wrong. But there is the human factor. Employees should understand that the hospital houses critical assets, including its patients and staff, and it should be everybody's business to protect them.

This recent intrusion at the University Hospital should serve as a wake-up call for other institutions.

Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist who may be reached at denniequill@hotmail.com.