Letter of the Day | University Hospital should do better for sickle cell patients

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I am writing in response to the article, ‘Pain and despair’, published in The Gleaner on September 27, about the experience of patients with sickle cell disease at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI). Thanks to The Gleaner for giving voice to patients with sickle cell disease, as you have done from time to time.

However, I am really disappointed by the response of the administration of the hospital. I have played an active role in caring for children, now adults, with sickle cell disease for 46 years. When going through a pain crisis, patients living with sickle cell disease just want the pain to stop. Sickle cell disease saps a lot of one’s energy. Sometimes it requires too much effort to even complain about poor treatment. I admire the courage of the young man who spoke out while going through a pain crisis in hospital.

If patients are describing these negative experiences at the UHWI, I think that the administration should investigate the matter. First and foremost, Fitzgerald Mitchell, the CEO of the UHWI, should have apologised to the patients. He should give the patients the respect they deserve, listen to their complaints, and perhaps engage other patients with sickle cell disease in a discussion to see if there are others out there with similar complaints.

These complaints could be used as a teachable moment for hospital staff. The response from the administrator should have been, “What can we do better?” “How can we improve?” I find it such a shame that in Jamaica in 2024, patients with sickle cell disease are describing these horrible experiences.

Dr Graham Serjeant, in his time at Sickle Cell Unit, gave his patients and their families so much respect and empathy in addition to his clinical expertise, that those of us who experienced his care came to think of that care as the norm.

It really pains me to read the words of these patients. The UHWI needs to do better, investigate these complaints and share their findings with the staff, with a view to ensuring that patients with sickle cell disease, and indeed all patients, feel that they have been treated with dignity and compassion.

ROSE GIBBS