Orthopaedic retreat successful
DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, August 21, 2018
On Saturday last, a team of about 40 personnel in the field of Orthopaedics from across the country gathered at the New Amsterdam Hospital for an Orthopedic Retreat. The meeting was jointly organised by the Georgetown Public Hospital Cooperation (GPHC) and New Amsterdam Public Hospital.
Led by Dr. Fawcett Jeffrey, Orthopaedic surgeon and consultant in the Department of Orthopaedics at the GPHC, the team of doctors, surgeons and as well as Orthopaedic technicians shared a day of camaraderie with the aim of fostering team spirit among staff throughout the country while sharpening their skill set.
According to Dr. Jeffery, the retreat which began in 2011 is usually held at the Project Dawn healthcare centre at Liliendaal on the East Coast of Demerara. However, they have not been able to host the event annually with the last one held in 2016 at the GPHC. The Orthopaedic surgeon said the retreat plays a very important role in the field and pledged to continue to lobby for it to be held annually.
“The idea is to have persons in the department of orthopaedics nationwide come together to discuss their achievements, difficulties, and as well as rehearse on some of the management strategies in orthopaedics that might have become newer things, advancement in orthopaedics”.
Dr. Jeffery said he is happy they were able to get this year’s retreat off the ground and more importantly to have been able to hold it at the second busiest medical facility in relation to the volume of orthopaedic cases that are seen and treated annually. This move away from GPHC, he said, allows for a hands-on experience of the real situation away from the main medial complex and helps other to recognise the conditions under which their colleagues work while also seeing others in their comfort zone.
Apart from the academic sessions, a practical session where technicians were shown the correct way to apply a cast was done, each participant also had an opportunity to follow suit and apply a cast to each other.
Among the key topics covered was the ability to make use of whatever supplies are available and make it as practical a possible.
Dr. Jeffery explained that the orthopaedic department at any facility is among the most expensive to operate and maintain due to the high costs attached to equipment and supplies. To this end, he is calling on the economists at the various facilities to look into the use of fibreglass instead of Plaster of Paris in the construction of casts.
“When you look at the cost of a roll of fibreglass you can probably get three roles of Plaster of Paris but when you look at the application it takes one roll of Fiberglass to three rolls of Plaster of Paris so that balances itself out. However, if the Plaster of Paris gets wet it gets broken and damaged and it has to be replaced while the fibreglass remains intact, further I have seen many instances where plaster of Paris casts are replaced sometimes three times in an eight week period so it becomes much more expensive”
The retreat was hailed a success as it was able to achieve its two main objectives of letting others in the field not feel alone having met the others in the field across the country and knowing that they can reach out to them at any time for help. And put into practice something they learnt so that they can go back to their respective locations and deliver better quality results to their patients.
Participants were drawn from across the country particularly, West Demerara, Mabaruma, Suddie, Linden, Mahaicony, GPHC, New Amsterdam and Skeldon.
Story and Images: Nafeeza Sakur