Gov’t accused of failing dialysis patients at hospital

The Dr D Orlando Smith Hospital in Road Town

Opposition legislator Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull has accused the government of neglecting dialysis patients at the Dr D Orlando Smith Hospital, warning that lives are at risk due to a lack of planning and poor management.

Turnbull informed the House of Assembly that the number of residents requiring dialysis has increased, yet the government has failed to expand treatment capacity.

“For the last two years, especially — maybe three, if I go back three years, when — God rest his soul — Honourable Carvin Malone was minister for health, he brought statistics regarding the dialysis patients who are on the machines, and it’s bursting at the seams,” Turnbull stated.

He added that younger residents are now requiring dialysis alongside seniors.

“We have not increased the capacity to serve them,” he explained.

No adult diapers at hospital

Turnbull shared personal accounts of patients from his district who have struggled with accessing basic supplies at the hospital.

“One of my seniors was down there in the hospital and she quarrelled, she quarrelled, she quarrelled. She said, ‘Look what I come to. Them say, once a man, twice a child’, and she said, now, I three times a dog because not even pampers they got for me,” Turnbull recounted.

He insisted the problem lies not with resources but with governance.

“There’s no lack of resources. There’s a lack of management. There’s a lack of a development plan for what we want to do for our people,” he argued.

Dialysis treatment has been a long-standing issue in the territory. Patients and their families have repeatedly raised concerns about machine shortages and service delays at the hospital, with some having to travel abroad for treatment.

Turnbull said the government must show clear intent to address these shortcomings.

“How do we expect to improve the lives of people if we’re not taking into consideration everything that’s going on?” he asked.