The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I am vexed over the circumstances of the death of another Bahamian citizen who died at the Rand Hospital on Grand Bahama Island. They were waiting for the Rand blood bank to take blood from a donor, so they could get a blood transfusion.

The patient was in the ICU and needed blood that the blood bank was unable to provide. When the patient’s family was made aware of the situation, they found donors who could come on the same day to donate blood. One would think this would be news to celebrate. Think again.

The family was told that the Rand blood bank was open half-day on Saturday morning to receive blood and was not scheduled to reopen until Monday. To make matters worse the Public Hospital Authority (PHA) administrators made no provision to have a technician available on call to take blood from a donor in such emergencies.

The best the family could coax out of the hospital was for a blood bank technician to come in midday Sunday. (In addition, the blood bank made a condition that the family had to bring in five donors, or else the donations would have to take place on Monday!)

The patient unexpectedly died Sunday morning before the donations were even scheduled to take place later that day.

If the patient had received the blood Saturday night there is a possibility that they might still be alive today. Unfortunately, we’ll never know because of PHA’s blood bank policies. A patient in need of blood on a Saturday afternoon in a life-or-death situation should not have to wait until Sunday or Monday to get blood from donors, because no one in the Rand blood bank is scheduled to come in.

That blood donors, some of them strangers to the patient, were willing to come to the hospital immediately, and no blood bank worker was able to come in until the next day, is unacceptable, and speaks volumes about our government-managed and regulated medical system.

I am also learning that this is not an isolated case, as other poor souls have died waiting for blood under similar circumstances: donors were ready to donate blood on the weekend, but the blood bank was closed for receiving blood until Monday.

All the admirable and professional care by the fine doctors and nurses at the Rand Hospital is rendered useless if their patients cannot receive blood. These heroes might as well be operating with their eyes blindfolded and their hands tied behind their backs.

Unjustly, it is these heroic doctors and nurses that receive the blame and not the bureaucrats who make these short-sighted rules.

A hospital is a 24-hour a-day, 7 days a week, 12 months a year operation. It makes no sense to close down the blood bank for receipts on the weekend when donors are waiting to give blood so urgently needed. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link: closing down a blood bank for receipts of blood on the weekends is one of those weak links.

Furthermore, the rationing policy of having five donors at the same time to get the lab technician to come in on the weekend outside of scheduled operating hours, or else you’ll have to wait until Monday, is an obtuse policy if a single bag of blood can mean the difference between life and death. The “system” needs to be designed to save people from dying, not to save those who work in the blood lab from being inconvenienced. If necessary, like a private entrepreneurial business, charge the patient for the “inconvenience.”

What policy change should be made to prevent this situation from ever happening again? In situations where the blood bank does not have the required blood available, someone on the blood bank staff should be on-call to receive blood outside of scheduled operating hours, even if from a single donor. This simple policy change is the intelligent, wise, and compassionate thing to do.

As Bahamians, we need to make sure this policy change happens now, as the next person in the Rand Hospital waiting days for a blood bank technician to receive blood could be your loved one, or you.

MARK Da CUNHA,

Freeport, Bahamas

June 15, 2023

EDITOR’S NOTE:

The Tribune requested a response from the Public Hospitals Authority to this letter when received. The PHA stated that the blood bank reported an adequate supply of blood for the hospital, however, the appeal for voluntary donors continues as donations are required to maintain the supply. The PHA also said a phlebotomist is always on call for emergencies.

“Any emergency case requiring the services of our blood bank outside of standard operating hours will action an urgent call for blood donation for as many donors as possible as one pint of blood can save up to three lives, according to the statement. The PHA said the RMH Blood Bank is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10am to 4 pm.

The PHA encouraged its patients and their families to utilize its Our Client Feedback Line at (242)350-6700 ext. 2079 as needed for any rising concerns.