Health Ministry Looking to Extend Visit Time at Bustamante Children’s Hospital

The Ministry of Health and Wellness is exploring the possibility of revising the visiting policy at the Bustamante Hospital for Children to allow parents to spend more time with their ailing children.

Portfolio Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, made the disclosure during a site visit and tour of the hospital’s Arthur Wint Drive location in Kingston on Thursday (May 1).

He was responding to a petition calling for round-the-clock visitation by parents, which has amassed more than 25,000 signatures in support.

Drawing on his recent visit to a hospital in the Philippines, where he observed family members seated beside patients’ bedsides, Minister Tufton acknowledged the merit of such a practice.

He emphasised, however, that any move towards implementing a similar approach would require clear rules and protocols to maintain appropriate standards of care and hygiene.

“There are some conditions that would have to be agreed on in order to facilitate that. You want to ensure that patient care and the delivery of care is not impeded or affected by the presence of a family member, even though we recognise fully the therapeutic support that a family member brings when someone is in the hospital,” he said.

“What we would need to do is to work out that protocol, which I have asked my team at the Ministry to look at… and then see if we can, if not start fully or certainly not with a 24-hour cycle but start with a longer cycle than what is allowed,” he said.

During his visit to the Bustamante Hospital, Dr. Tufton observed work under way on an overnight suite, which is in the final stages of construction.

The 30-bed facility will provide a comfortable space for parents to stay overnight at the hospital to assist in the care and recovery of their children.

Dr. Tufton said that the suite is scheduled to be fully operational by September 2025.

“It’s really the internals, painting and putting up the ceiling to complete it,” he noted.

“The completion of this overnight suite will mark a major step towards humanising the care experience for children and their families. Allowing parents to stay will be a great relief for many,” the Minister said.

He underscored the need to improve family-centred care by ensuring that space is available for parents to remain at their children’s bedside.

The overnight suite is part of a two-storey building, including a paediatric cardiac ward, which is being built at a cost of approximately $120 million by the National Housing Trust (NHT) in partnership with the National Health Fund (NHF) and South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA).

The project, for which ground was broken in 2021, was initially slated for completion over two years, but faced some delays due to contractor issues.

A new contractor is on site to facilitate completion of the project by September.