Crowds were deciding which patients would be treated -Dr Ramsammy tells Commission of Enquiry into strike events Stabroek News August 17, 1999 The enquiry into incidents during the 55-day public service strike resumed yesterday with a top Georgetown Hospital official describing how hostile crowds began to select which patients would be allowed to seek treatment at the institution. First to testify was Dr Leslie Ramsammy, Chairman of the Hospital's Interim Management Committee who was followed by Chief Executive Officer (CEO), George Munroe and Director of Medical and Professional Services, Dr Madan Rambarran. They were led in their testimony by counsel to the Commission, Mortimer Cumberbatch at the Commission's venue at the Public Service Appellate Tribunal on Brickdam. The CEO's testimony as well as that of Dr Rambarran's were restricted to certain specific incidents during the strike, which began in May, as well as a synopsis of the effect on the Hospital. Ramsammy's lengthy testimony referred to other incidents touched on by the others and also served to give an overall picture of the strike. Munroe told the court that in the early days of the strike no doctors were on strike but that the Hospital recorded a non-medical absentee rate of around 75% during the day and this grew to around 90% at night Consequently, the work of the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Unit was hampered while many specialist clinics could not function and patients had to be either discharged or transferred to private facilities. Rambarran's testimony touched on several incidents of abuse both verbal and physical that were suffered by patients and staff alike who sought entry to the hospital. He also told the court that following these incidents, the Cuban authorities had had cause to write to the hospital administration advising that they would be withdrawing the services of their doctors because their safety could not be guaranteed. The witnesses spoke of crowds and alternately described them as militant, abusive and belligerent. The crowds were said to have severely affected the ability of the Georgetown Hospital to provide services by blocking entrances and exits and on occasion, invading the hospital itself. At times during the day, these crowds, which according to Ramsammy comprised union officials and striking workers, would number around 500. By the third day of the strike, the crowds were said to have begun preventing both staff and patients alike from entering the compound. Ramsammy testified that he and other doctors were locked out and also told the court about an incident involving a Dr Benji Singh, who was said to have had his car surrounded by members of the crowd who promised to overturn the vehicle and beat him up if he attempted to enter. According to Ramsammy, police officers summoned to the scene of the disturbance simply told Singh to leave rather than attempting to escort him through the crowd. Questioned by Justice Carl Singh about the actions of the Hospital's security at the time of these and other incidents, Ramsammy reported that the guards seemed powerless to control the crowd which eventually began entering the compound. According to Ramsammmy, the crowd included union officials and that these insisted on entering the Hospital itself and walking around the building. Ramsammy also attributed this behaviour to President of the Guyana Public Service Union, Patrick Yarde and First Vice President, Dr Anwar Hussein, who he said entered the building alone and walked about on at least two occasions. Ramsammy said that the result was one of intimidation in so far as workers were said to be fearful of being recognised at work and suffering later reprisals. Turning his testimony to the sick persons who were turned away from the Hospital, Ramsammy stated that after he had gone on TV rebuffing the union leaders for the situation outside the hospital, the crowds adopted a new tactic. He stated that they took it upon themselves to determine who was sick enough to enter the hospital with the rest being turned away. However, Ramsammy said that even this became reprehensible because this selective admission took on a racial connotation when certain persons were not allowed entry at all. Asked to clarify by Justice Singh, Ramsammy stated that sick East Indians were not allowed in as well as relatives of persons within the Hospital. Ramsammy testified that some people desirous of entering the Hospital would force their way through the crowd but that by the second week of the strike, the crowd had begun bringing their own locks to shutter the gates. Thus, even those members of staff who avoided the crowd's usual gathering times of between 0900 hrs and 1730, were still locked in. By this time, Ramsammy said that the Hospital had a Police presence but that it wasn't very helpful. The only exception, according to him was when ranks from the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) were called out after which persons were able to enter and exit freely. Ramsammy then turned his testimony to an incident on May 21 when a group of people stormed the Accident and Emergency Unit. On that night, Ramsammy said that a group of persons armed with bottles and bricks had invaded the A&E unit shortly after 2100 hrs, assaulting two doctors on duty as well as other staff. Prior to this, Ramsammy said that he had received a report from Munroe who informed him that the CEO's driver had overheard a conversation between 10-15 people outside the New Market street entrance of the hospital. The people were said to be discussing entering the A&E unit, and according to Ramsammy's testimony, they talked about waiting for others to join them. According to Ramsammy's testimony, they were later joined by a crowd that disembarked from two mini-buses. The new arrivals were said to be armed with sticks and stones and the fortified crowd then invaded the unit with little difficulty assaulting the doctors. On hearing this testimony, Justice Singh directed that the two doctors, identified as Drs Puran and Sawh, be made to present themselves before the Commission today to supply testimony about this incident. Meanwhile, Ramsammy went on to report that the doctors had been attending to patients at the time, among them a critically ill patient but that they were forced to flee from their attackers. Upon their return however, the critical patient had expired. Ramsammy testified that this seemed to shake the confidence of the staff in the security arrangements but that the Police (whom he had labelled as being ineffective on other occasions) became more organised. Armed patrols were said to be monitoring the hospital 3 or 4 times a day in addition to monitoring by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) who maintained an eye on the situation. By this time, Ramsammy said that the staff had little faith in security arrangements and even some who had persevered through the strike had indicated reluctance to work. Ramsammy then pronounced that unfortunately, some sections of the media had contributed a good deal towards this anxiety and fear at the time. Ramsammy then turned his testimony towards an incident during which an emergency C-section case had to be transfered by her family to a private hospital over fears of security. This incident echoed another one mentioned by Ramsammy, during which an emergency operation was delayed for two hours after an anesthesiologist was denied entry to the hospital. Ramsammy testified that the C-section had been catered for but that the surgeon had called Dr Rambarran requesting an assurance of safety which he could not give. After failing to reach Yarde, Rambarran placed a public service announcement on the television stations asking the unions to guarantee the safety of those involved. Hussein then showed up later that night after the woman's family had already transferred her to another hospital. During an informal meeting, Hussein was said to have told those in a attendance that he could only guarantee the safety of staff until 0900 hrs the following morning. He however refused to put this guarantee into writing and threatened to bring over 5000 people in front of the Hospital within five minutes, the enquiry was told. The court also heard testimony from Ramsammy about unsuccessful attempts by the Hospital administration to get the GPSU to agree to a skeleton staff at the Hospital. In testimony that would later be corroborated by Munroe, Ramsammy spoke of several unsuccessful attempts by the Hospital to get the GPSU to discuss the issue. These attempts included a visit to the GPSU Hall by Dr Hughley Hanoman who was said to have been assaulted on his way out. The Chairman rounded out his testimony by touching on various incidents in which members of the crowd had hurled abuse at staff members. A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples