BELMOPAN, Belize, Jul 17, CMC – The Belize government has condemned the incident at the Southern Regional Hospital on Monday saying it forms part of the “continuous aggressive and threatening behaviour by the public towards medical staff”.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health & Wellness said it had become aware of a news item indicating that relatives of a patient had damaged property belonging to the hospital on Monday night.
It said since the publication of the story, an investigation has been conducted to determine the “veracity of the allegation”.
According to the ministry, the investigation revealed that the staff of the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Unit of the Southern Regional Hospital “encountered a violent incident at the hands of persons purporting to be friends and/or relatives of victims of a road traffic incident who were brought into the facility for medical attention” on Monday night.
It said approximately30 minutes after their arrival, “either friends and/or relatives of the injured patients arrived and forced themselves into the Unit’s triage area and attempted to enter the Emergency Department”
The ministry said that to allow for staff to provide the required attention without unnecessary interruptions, the doors of the A&E were closed.
“Thereafter, a female voice was heard threatening to throw down the door if she/they were not allowed inside, this was accompanied with what sounded like banging on the door. The security personnel of the hospital were alerted and attempts to diffuse the situation were made but proved futile. The police were then called in.”
The ministry said that the incident “reflects what is now being perceived as continuous aggressive and threatening behavior by the public towards medical staff, which cannot be countenanced.
“The attention of the public is drawn to the fact that in addressing medical emergencies staff require the space to employ all medical skills to preserve life and safety; this includes privacy in the emergency areas.
“ Relatives and/or friends cannot and must not obstruct medical personnel who require space to be able to move quickly to provide emergency care and an environment free from potential contaminants,” the ministry said.
It reminds the public that it is an offence pursuant to the Criminal Code “to threaten a public officer in the course of duty or to obstruct a public officer in the execution of their public duty”.
The statement gave no indication as to whether any action had been taken against those involved in Monday’s incident.
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