Poor theatre conditions at BHC put halt to surgeries
Published:Thursday | October 24, 2024 | 12:10 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
A mother whose 11-year-old daughter is being gradually disabled by an “aggressive” form of scoliosis says she is frustrated that the surgery to correct the issue has been postponed because of an under-resourced operating theatre at the Bustamante Hospital for Children (BHC).
Sandra Aitcheson said she was notified only days before her daughter, Ajanae Parchment, was to be admitted for surgery, that it was no longer scheduled because the orthopaedic surgeon said he could not perform the procedure under the existing conditions at the theatre.
Ajanae was diagnosed with the condition in August of last year at the Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James. She was referred to BHC for treatment. At the time of diagnosis, her spinal curve was recorded at 25 degrees.
A brace was prescribed to assist with correcting the curve but it has since progressed to 85 degrees.
Aitcheson said that, because of this development, the door for surgery was opened and numerous consultations and tests, including blood and pulmonary, were done.
She said she was told a growing rod would be inserted to correct the issue.
A medical team travelling from overseas as part of a missionary programme was to do the surgery along with one of the country’s senior most orthopaedic surgeons.
The surgery had been booked for this week, and Ajanae and other severely affected children were to be admitted on Monday (October 21), she said, to prepare for their procedures.
However, before that, Aitcheson said that, during a follow-up appointment in September this year, she was told that the surgery was tentative because “they don’t have any theatre”.
The mother said she was told at that time that there are six theatres and only one was functional, though it was impacted by mould, had no air conditioning and was without the necessary equipment.
“They said if they don’t have any equipment then there’s nothing they can do; it’s out of their hands,” she said.
Further, she said the surgeon indicated that the procedure would be a difficult one, lasting more than two hours, and would require at least air conditioning to proceed.
Out of options
She said on October 15 she received a call from a BHC personnel who requested medical documents including X-rays she would have had in her possession. She said she was told to take the documents along with her daughter to the hospital for further consultation.
Aitcheson said the following day she left home in Montego Bay, St James, with Ajanae at 2 a.m. to travel to Kingston.
“When we got there, Dr [name omitted] looked on her X-rays and he said he is not going to do her surgery because she has severe scoliosis and her surgery is going to take more than two hours and the theatre is not working properly. They don’t have any AC, they don’t have the proper equipment and the equipment weren’t being sterilised
“He said if they do the surgery on her and it gets infected or anything happens, then I am going to want to sue them even though they told me that they couldn’t do the surgery. So I was there saying, ‘Okay, but hers is very bad. What am I to do next? What is going to happen to my child?’” she recounted.
She said she was told by the surgeon that he was out of options as the surgery could not be done in under two hours.
Added to that, the medical missionary team will not be back in Jamaica until October of next year.
Aitcheson believes that by that time her daughter may be unable to walk and may experience difficulty breathing.
“It is moving fast and she feels pain. It’s not for the entire day, but if she stands too long she feels it; if she sits too long, she feels it. If the bed is too soft, if the bed is too hard, she feels pain and when she feels pain it’s eye water, tears, everything,” she said.
Efforts by The Gleaner to reach senior medical officer at BHC Dr Michelle-Ann Richards-Dawson were unsuccessful as calls and a text message to her phone went unanswered.
The hospital subsequently indicated that Ajanae has severe scoliosis and has a “high risk” of complications that will require a minimum of six hours of “high risk” surgery.
It said surgery in the operating theatre with temperature regulation issues remains a concern for the team of surgeons.
It said a formal referral will be made for surgery to be done at The University Hospital of the West Indies.