With the Chik-V fear gripping the country, many parents are complaining of extremely long waiting hours at the Bustamante Hospital for Children in St. Andrew.
Nationwide News visited the hospital this morning, and found parents with young babies waiting almost 24 hours to be seen by a doctor.
The wail of one of dozens of sick babies at the Bustamante Children’s Hospital was continuous this morning.
Some parents have been forced to spend the night sleeping on the benches with their children in their arms, as they wait their turn to be seen at the crowded hospital.
One mother told us she waited 19 hours before being seen!
Her son is only 9-months-old.
A father told our news centre this was his second trip to the children’s hospital in the past few weeks, with two children afflicted by symptoms of Chikungunya.
Another mother says she rushed her daughter from Old Harbour, St. Catherine in the middle of the night, because of a very high fever.
But, a shortage of staff at the country’s only children’s hospital meant they simply had to join the line of those who had already been waiting for hours.
Parents are complaining that the government does not seem to have the situation under control.
On the positive side, parents say they’ve not been having difficulty accessing Panadol at the hospital’s pharmacy.
Doctors have been prescribing the liquid form of the drug for children suffering from Chik-V.
Despite an apparent shortage of Panadol at some private pharmacies, the medication appears to be readily available at the public hospitals.
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