Latest news with #KGH
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Kelowna General Hospital doctors warn of 'collapse' of primary maternity care coverage
Doctors in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) are warning that the maternity ward is on the verge of collapse amid a shortage of family physicians. A joint statement from all nine members of the department issued Thursday said that "without immediate action from health authorities and government decision-makers, the safety of patients and newborns is at serious risk." "Due to a critical shortage of family physicians willing or able to provide this care— worsened by a failure to recruit replacements—our hospital is facing a collapse of its primary maternity care coverage as early as June 1, 2025. "This means that many pregnant patients may arrive at the hospital in labour with no doctor available to provide safe, continuous care during delivery." The doctors said their concerns about staffing and support have gone largely unanswered and they're demanding immediate action from Interior Health. The doctor representing the group declined an interview request from CBC News. Dr. Hussam Azzam, executive medical director for Interior Health South, acknowledged the physicians' concerns, saying KGH leadership is in regular contact with with the ob-gyns to address a complex issue with "multiple pillars to it that we need to address." "We are open to listen and we're open to work with them collaboratively to meet their needs and to deliver the best quality care that they've trained to do," Azzam said. Dr. Charlene Lui, president of the professional association Doctors of B.C., said family doctors often handle low-risk patients with obstetricians focused on cases that are high risk and more complex. "When we have fewer low-risk maternity providers that are family physicians, then that puts additional pressure on our obstetricians to sometimes need to be in several places at the same time when an emergency arises," Lui said. The statement followed last week's announcement of an extended closure of the pediatric unit at KGH. The health authority said it temporarily closed the pediatric care unit at the hospital to address scheduling gaps due to limited physician availability. "We are very alarmed to hear that the issues at Kelowna General continue to escalate without solutions from the health authority," Lui said Friday. KGH is a regional referral centre with over 1,800 deliveries each year and a Tier 4 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) caring for babies born at 30 weeks gestation or later, according to the doctors' letter. Dr. Jeff Eppler, an emergency department physician at KGH, told CBC News on Friday that he was heading into a weekend shift amid staff shortages, including no pediatricians and a limited number of ob-gyns. "Our staff is burning out. All of these service disruptions just make the job so much harder for all of us in the emergency department," Eppler said. "And even though we are all starting to burn out, we are going to have to pick up extra shifts this summer to make up for all the shortcomings in the system." In a statement, B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne said parents can be assured that all of the hospital's critical care services for children remain open, including the emergency department and NICU. Gavin Dew, the B.C. Conservative MLA for Kelowna-Mission, described the situation at the hospital as a "crisis of government neglect." "We have multiple departments of the hospital who clearly feel as if they are not being heard by the folks who should be listening to them and are resorting to making public the crisis-level conditions at the hospital," Dew said. The hospital ob-gyns said they have warned administrators of the risks, and have tried to offer solutions. "We have submitted multiple letters, proposals, and formal communications urging action," reads the statement. "Our concerns have gone largely unanswered." They are calling on Interior Health and B.C.'s health ministry to create a contingency plan to ensure patients are cared for and to support the transfer of maternity patients if care can't be provided locally. Osborne acknowledged the hard work of pediatricians at KGH, saying they have been dealing with staffing shortages and are "understandably experiencing burnout." She went on to say the province's efforts to recruit health-care workers are starting to pay off. Two new pediatricians have accepted offers to work at KGH, she said, with the first set to arrive in July.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Kettering hospital child patients 'at risk' due to 'dysfunctional' departments
Child patients faced a "very serious risk" of increased deaths and deterioration of their conditions due to failings at a hospital, according to an independent shortages, poor culture and 'inadequate' nursing skills were identified at Kettering General Hospital's (KGH) children's and young people's paediatric and urgent care consultants Ibex Gale, which conducted the investigation, also said a "them and us" culture had also developed between NHS trust which runs the hospital said it was "committed to creating the best service possible for our patients, families and colleagues". Ibex Gale was brought in to conduct what is known as a patient safety culture review following "serious concerns" from staff, patients, and parents. Inquest findings and patient safety incidents also prompted the trust board to take action. The consultant's report highlighted workforce shortages and inexperienced staff who told the investigators they were overwhelmed by demand. Staff described an "unhealthy culture that creates an environment where stress, negativity, and dysfunction become the norm"."The perceived staff shortages, and the concerns raised regarding the inadequacy of agency/trust adult nurses' paediatric skills and experience, create a very serious risk of increased mortality and morbidity for patients," the report continued. Ibex Gale described a disjointed culture with low psychological safety, where staff felt reluctant to put forward ideas, offer suggestions or have challenging environment with psychological safety is one where people feel comfortable expressing themselves without worrying about negative consequences, according to the Royal College of report also highlighted a lack of collaboration between staff at the Skylark children's ward and the paediatric emergency affected safety, it said, and contributed to "a lack of collective responsibility for patients". The BBC had previously exposed failings at Skylark shared concerns about care at the unit and said staff had ignored symptoms of serious illnesses, sometimes with fatal Care Quality Commission (CQC) is also considering a criminal prosecution following the death of Chloe 13-year-old from Market Harborough in Leicestershire, died from pneumonia and sepsis in November 2022, one day after being admitted to the death was contributed to by neglect, according to a coroner, and the hospital admitted it had failed to deliver the care Chloe deserved. The report authors said only 36% of the relevant staff members had engaged with the review, despite the period for them to do so being equates to just 77 out of a possible a survey conducted as part of the review, just 55% of staff said they were confident the trust was delivering safe paediatric was outstripping the skilled paediatric workforce and estate resources, the report added. The University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Foundation Trust, which operates Kettering General, said it had instituted a series of measures to improve safety and performance. These included:A twice-daily "safety huddle" where senior nurses, medical teams and operational staff meet to discuss safetyMultidisciplinary monthly simulation training for medical and nursing staff, strengthening team collaboration and clinical capability and practising dealing with difficult clinical scenariosListening Events to improve staff and patient experienceSenior nurse away days "to support improved working between the children's ward and paediatric emergency department"Making the leadership more visibleMore patient engagement, "ensuring their voices shape care delivery, safety improvements, and service design" The University Hospitals of Northamptonshire chief nurse, Julie Hogg, said: "As part of our improvement work, we commissioned a review to look into how we could improve our culture within the service, to have a positive impact on patient safety".She added: "The report identified a number of areas that we need to improve, and our new Children and Young Person's leadership team is focusing on working with colleagues, and listening to our patients, to make and embed the changes swiftly and effectively."Ms Hogg said they had accepted all of the recommendations, which "will inform a comprehensive improvement plan"."This plan will be tracked through governance structures and reported publicly to ensure transparency and accountability. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
CBC
24-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Pediatric unit at Kelowna hospital to close for at least 6 weeks amid doctor shortage
An emergency department physician is sounding the alarm about staffing shortages within Interior Health following the announcement of an extended closure of the pediatric unit at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH). In a statement, Interior Health says the service disruption to the KGH's 10-bed inpatient general pediatrics unit will start Monday and last at least six weeks as pediatricians will be moved to the neonatal intensive care unit and high-risk deliveries. The health authority says it is making the temporary changes to pediatric care at the hospital to address scheduling gaps due to limited physician availability. Dr. Jeff Eppler, an emergency department physician at KGH, said parents shouldn't hesitate to bring their sick child to the emergency department to get the care they need. "I think the contingency will be if the sick child comes in ... if they need to be admitted then they are going to be staying in [the] emergency department," he said. Eppler said there had been some planning for disruptions in pediatric services, "but we were never prepared to become what is essentially a de facto pediatric ward." Dr. Hussam Azzam, Interior Health's executive medical director in community and maternity care, said that staff can make arrangements to have a young patient transferred to another hospital, hopefully within the Interior Health region. Eppler is critical of how the news was communicated to staff, saying they found out about the service interruption through a press release less than a week before the closure. Azzam said there have been shorter periods of interrupted coverage in KGH's pediatric department over the last few months due to "a chronic shortage of pediatricians" at the hospital who can look after inpatients. Eppler said he and other hospital staff knew there were going to be some disruptions to pediatric services that could last a day or even a few days, but they had no idea that a closure would last for more than a month. "I suspect this situation has been brewing for a lot longer and we should have been notified much sooner so we could do better planning," Eppler said. "This affects our department greatly because we're already often short nurses." Interior Health said the interruption in service only affects children who need to be admitted to the general pediatric unit. All critical care services for children — including the emergency department and neonatal intensive care unit — are open. Recruiting pediatricians challenging, says health minister B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne said the decision to shutter the pediatric unit for at least six weeks was a difficult one, noting that recruiting staff amid a global shortage of health-care workers is a challenge. "Pediatricians generally has been a specialty that's been more difficult to recruit to and Kelowna is not alone in experiencing these kinds of shortages," Osborne said. Azzam said they are constantly working to improve recruitment efforts. "We are hoping that there is at least one pediatrician [who] will be joining us in in the summer, so that will hopefully alleviate the pressure," he said. Eppler said it's important to emphasize that he and his emergency department colleagues will continue to provide patients with the care they need.
The Hindu
30-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Wall collapse incident at Simhachalam temple: Opposition parties criticise NDA government for ‘negligence and apathy'
Members of the Opposition parties slammed the NDA government alleging negligence and apathy as the reason behind the wall collapse which led to the death of seven persons, including three women, atop Simhachalam in Visakhapatnam, during the Chandanotsavam festival. Former Minister and YSR Congress Party Anakapalli district president Gudivada Amarnath, along with Visakhapatnam district YSRCP president K.K. Raju and other leaders, met the victim family members near the KGH and expressed their grief. Later, speaking to the media, Mr Amarnath said that in general Chandanotsavam receives a turnout of around two lakh devotees every year. But despite knowing the facts, the government had failed to make basic arrangements. He alleged that the wall which was constructed a few days ago, seems to be poorly constructed. 'I met a victim who is undergoing treatment at the VIMS. He informed that during the rain and gale, the wall swung like a flexi and fell all of a sudden. There was no illumination in the queue line route. Fortunately, he survived with fractures,' Mr. Amarnath said. Mr. Amarnath questioned what was the need for the authorities to organise the queue line along the under-construction area, which had no illumination at all. He has also demanded that the government provide an ex gratia of ₹1 crore to the kin of the deceased and also provide them a government job. Construction quality CPI(M) corporator, B Ganga Rao and CPI(M) leader R.K.S.V. Kumar also consoled the kin of the victims at the KGH. Speaking to the media, Mr. Ganga Rao alleged negligence from the authorities as the reason for the human loss. He questioned the quality of the wall which collapsed due to rain and the corruption behind it. The government should take strict action against the persons responsible for the incident, he said. 'During January, there was a stampede at Tirumala during Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam tickets issue, in which many devotees died. Now, here during Chandanotsavam, seven devotees were killed. It seems like the government has not learnt any lessons from the Tirupati stampede incident,' he said.
The Hindu
27-04-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
KGH will be developed into a Centre of Excellence on the lines of AIIMS-Delhi: CM Naidu
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Saturday (April 26, 2025) that the King George Hospital (KGH) in Visakhapatnam would be developed into a Centre of Excellence, on the lines of AIIMS, Delhi. Speaking at the inauguration of the 'Centenary Alumni Building' of Andhra Medical College (AMC), Mr. Naidu said KGH, which had been serving patients for over a century, was a symbol of pride for Andhra Pradesh. He directed the Health Department to prepare a comprehensive action plan to ensure the hospital continued to thrive for the next 100 years. Also read: Unique Tribal Cell at KGH serves people from agency areas across region Mr. Naidu said the newly inaugurated Centenary Alumni Building, constructed at a cost of ₹50 crore by the AMC alumni, marked a significant milestone in the college's glorious history. He noted that AMC was the seventh oldest medical college in India, established in 1923 during the British rule, and was the first medical college in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh. The college had produced a number of stalwarts, he said. Lauding the efforts of the alumni, Mr. Naidu recalled that they initially raised ₹3 crore in 2023 after receiving 1.4 acres of land. Over time, the contributions grew to ₹50 crore, gradually helping in the completion of state-of-the-art facility for the students. He appreciated the alumni's dedication and vision, calling them an inspiration. He also announced that with an additional ₹20 crore, a biomedical research laboratory would soon be established at AMC to further strengthen research capabilities. The Chief Minister also acknowledged similar efforts by the alumni of Guntur Medical College and others who were contributing to the development of their alma mater. Emphasising the importance of Information Technology in education and career development, Mr. Naidu encouraged students to embrace digital tools and innovation. Vizag poised for growth Mr. Naidu also reiterated that Visakhapatnam was poised for transformative growth over the next two to five years. Key infrastructure and industrial projects, including an international airport, a metro rail project, and major investments from TCS, Cognizant, and Google, were set to drive the progress, he said, and added that the combined regions of Anakapalli and Visakhapatnam might emerge as the largest steel-producing hub, powered by the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and the upcoming ArcelorMittal Steel Plant. Health Minister Y. Satya Kumar noted that the State Government had been giving top priority to the health sector. Alumni of AMC and in-charge Minister of Visakhapatnam district Dola Sree Bala Veerajaneya Swamy urged the Chief Minister to take steps to increase the PG seats in AMC. Principal of Andhra Medical College K.V.S.M. Sandhya Devi recalled the history of AMC and also thanked the alumnus for their contribution marking the centenary milestone. MP M. Sribharat, Home Minister V. Anitha, MLAs Ch. Vamsikrishna Srinivas and P. Vishnu Kumar Raju, Special Chief Secretary, Health, M.T. Krishna Babu, Collector M.N. Harendhira Prasad, and Chairperson of AMC CAB Committee Dr. T. Ravi Raju were present.
