Social media reacts: Kari Douglas’ clash at Bustamante

The Accident and Emergency Unit of the Bustamante Hospital for Children was closed for two hours early Sunday morning after People’s National Party Councillor Kari Douglas and a medical doctor at the facility had an altercation over the waiting time for Douglas’ son to be treated. The doctor has since requested a transfer from the hospital and Douglas is contemplating pressing criminal charges.

Social media followers on The Gleaner ’s Instagram page share their views on this incident. See more responses @JamaicaGleaner.

- No respect. - @teenatemcclear

- They should charge her for abuse and stupidity. - @jadore1975

- This is one of the reasons why PNP will never win the next election. - @weldergurlrochelle

- In America she would have been arrested. Other children could have died because of her selfishness. This is Jamaica, not a first-world country, they don’t have the resources, and even here things aren’t perfect. - @duttyfree0125

- The thing is, the doctors and nurses there stop too much and talk too much. You will go there 7 a.m. Tuesday morning and leave 7 a.m. Wednesday morning. Sometimes it’s packed and another time it’s not. I can understand when it’s packed because emergency comes first, but when you go there and it’s not pack and you see the first doctor, register, and to see the second doctor you wait almost the entire day. It’s just too long. - @mseanique__

- Same way! Yuh have to behave bad. I had swollen tonsils to the point where I could hardly breathe and went to a clinic and was given a letter to take to the nearest hospital ASAP for assistance. I barely made it there, only to be told the doctors were on LUNCH and it’s nothing anyone else can do (Spanish Town Hospital). Thank God for a private doctor few miles from the hospital; he helped me a great deal. - @mstammyjoe

- This incident speaks to the understaffed and undermanned healthcare facilities. If this wasn’t enough, some of these health providers could care less what’s happening to your loved one, be it friend or family, who need their attention/care. The nurses tend to have a superiority complex and decide to be rude, and the doctors work and diagnose in segments instead of looking at the whole picture. However, the thing about the A&E islandwide, is no one jumps into action until it seems someone is dying. - @tamicabrsc