‘Tangible support must be put in place to help’
One Bermuda Alliance statement from Shadow Health Minister Robin Tucker, MP, via press release:
Broadly the issue of having insufficient patient beds and the staffing issues at KEMH is part of a much larger problem. For starters, taxpayers paid over $400 million to build a hospital with insufficient inpatient stay capacity. It’s pretty obvious just by looking at the design that it was not purpose built to accommodate the inpatient needs of our general population.
Families need to be strongly encouraged to take their family members home and care for them. Undoubtably most people want their relatives at home but they simply cannot care for them. There must also be tangible support be put in place to help. A day care is a help, but Bermuda needs more affordable nursing homes and greater caregiver support. It’s unsurprising that staff at BHB are reaching a breaking point.
They endured and supported us through the pandemic, yet we saw through the recent silent protest that while they took care of us, we weren’t taking care of them, and after giving so much them, we now ask them to give more.
We have known for years that a third of our population will be seniors by 2026, and that chronic conditions are becoming more prevalent.
We haven’t adequately prepared for this day so much of what we are seeing play out at KEMH is sadly predicable.
We are in a crisis, and families can help by taking home their loved ones to alleviate some of the strain on the hospital and its staff.
