Patient monitoring procedures at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation are being reviewed as the hospital moves to strengthen safety protocols following recent incidents involving patients at the facility.
This is according to the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer Robbie Rambarran, who expressed deep sadness over two recent incidents that led to death by suicide at the hospital.
Rambarran said while policies and frameworks already exist to manage high-risk patients, the hospital has recently revised several of these measures. Under the proposed approach, nurses who need to briefly step away from a patient’s room may be required to call for backup so another staff member can remain present.
“Maybe we will have to say now if you are leaving the room please call for a backup or let someone come and stay with the patient while you retrieve whatever you need,” he said.
Importantly, Rambarran clarified that in the most recent case, a patient who had undergone emergency surgery was placed in an isolation room with 24-hour monitoring by a nurse as an added precaution.
The 70-year-old man underwent surgery and was being monitored due to the reasons leading up to the surgery.
“The doctor did a fantastic job in saving that patient’s life and the patient was recovering well,” Rambarran said.
He added that there had been no indication of suicidal tendencies during the stay until the tragic incident occurred.
“The nurse reported that she just went outside to get the gluco-meter and when she came back the patient wasn’t there. She saw the patient at the window,” Rambarran said.
This was the moment that tragedy struck. In light of the incident, Rambarran said the hospital is examining ways to further tighten supervision of patients, including ensuring that staff members do not leave patients unattended.
Rambarran added that the hospital remains confident that the combination of strengthened monitoring procedures and ongoing safety upgrades will help reduce the risk of similar incidents in the future.
As a matter of urgency, upgrades were undergo following the first incident involving a 22-year-old woman.
Windows that were unserviceable are being replaced and installing grills as an added safety measure. Rambarran noted that the decision required careful consideration, as improperly designed grills could pose a potential fire hazard.
“We said we have to change these windows and we were in the process of installing grills. We had to have quite a bit of conversations about this,” he said.
Rambarran said the installation work is expected to be completed at each area within two weeks. He also assured that the hospital is dedicated to preventing such incidents.
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