ON TUESDAY SEVERAL pregnant women were sent home from the Victoria Jubilee Hospital after an electrical fire left a block of five floors without electricty.
As was reported in yesterday's STAR, the pregnant women who were sent home were those who the hospital doctors felt were not at risk. The report said those at risk were relocated to other wards while five babies in incubators were transferred to the Bustamante Children's Hospital.
This is a very interesting story. While we are not questioning the hospital doctors' competence, it must be noted that one of the women sent home was two weeks overdue to give birth.
But she was told to go home and return to the hospital on Friday. This is amazing. Why would a pregnant mother who is overdue be sent home? Wouldn't sending her to another hospital be a better bet?
Bear in mind that the woman checked into the hospital approximately three hours before the fire. In another instance, a mother was sent home with her baby who had a high fever.
We are certainly not telling the hospital how to do their job, nor are we condemning them for sending the mothers home, but the questions must be asked. Isn't there a back-up system for when emergencies occur?
It was commendable, however, that swift repairs were made so that the hospital could be reopened yesterday and return to its normal operations.
