Princess Margaret Hospital Receives New Operating Table – UK-Based Group

On Friday, March 9, the Princess Margaret Hospital in St. Thomas received a new electronic hydraulic operating table from the United Kingdom (UK)-based Friends of the Princess Margaret Hospital.
Senior Medical Officer at the hospital, Dr. Cecil Bachelor told JIS News that the table, which cost some US$25,000, would, “greatly assist in making surgical operations easier as the old table was mechanically operated and had to be wound-up for certain procedures, whereas this new one is electronically operated and so at the push of a button it adjusts to facilitate particular surgical procedures”.
Dr. Bachelor pointed out that coupled with a recently installed stand-by generator, the new operating table raises the Princess Margaret’s operating efficiency to a new level.
He cited an “aggressive policy” on the part of the hospital of keeping up with technology.
“Most of that has been with the help of donors like the Friends group and if we can use technology here it means we can treat the patients better, and also retain staff, which is very important because if you don’t get the advances in the hospital, the staff will go,” he said.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing, Transport, Water and Works and Member of Parliament for Eastern St. Thomas, Dr. Fenton Ferguson, who was present at the handing over ceremony, praised the efforts of the group for its unrelenting efforts in securing the operating table for the hospital.
He further urged other civic-minded citizens and groups to extend their generosity. “There are times when people say it is Government or the Member of Parliament who should do everything but it is a genuine group of patriots at home and abroad that have made the difference over the years,” he said.
Dr. Ferguson noted that with the positive developments taking place at the hospital and the ability to take on the various health challenges the institution was now at a point where it could be upgraded from a Type ‘C’ to a type ‘B’ facility. This and other matters he said would be raised shortly with Health Minister, Horace Dalley.
President of the Friends of the Princess Margaret Hospital Group, Andrea Rose, said she was pleased to be able to give back in this tangible manner.
She highlighted that so far the UK Friends group had donated blood pressure machines, stethoscopes, electronic cast cutters, plaster shears, and a number of other items to the hospital. The electronic operating table she noted was only part of a wish list for which the group would be raising funds in England to supply.