Medical ethics expert focuses on difficult conversations

1 November 2018: Bermuda’s healthcare providers will have the opportunity to learn from a medical ethics expert next week. Dr Christy Simpson, head of the Bioethics Department at Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine, will return to the island to give a series of talks as part of Bermuda Hospitals Board’s (BHB’s) annual Ethics Awareness Week.

This year, Dr Simpson and the BHB Ethics Committee will focus on the difficult conversations that present a challenge for many healthcare professionals.

Dr Christy Simpson (left) and Sita Ingram

Sita Ingram, Ethics Education Committee chair and clinical director of Allied Health Services at BHB, said: “Healthcare providers are here to diagnose and treat illnesses, but it’s also our duty to make sure our patients understand the reality of their diagnosis, and the risks and benefits of choosing one treatment over another. We need to take their values and beliefs into account, along with their loved ones’ wishes.

“These can be very emotional conversations for everyone involved, especially when the prognosis is not good or the treatment journey is likely to be difficult. The situation can be even tougher when patients aren’t able to make decisions for themselves.”

Dr Simpson said: “In the end we need to support patients and their families through the decision-making process and then support their decisions, whether or not the patient chooses the recommended course of treatment.

“There are steps we can take to prepare for these kinds of conversations and to deal with any issues that arise. There are also ethical considerations, along with tools that can help when making a decision is particularly difficult or there are differing views.”

Dr Simpson will lead continuing medical education lectures for local healthcare providers next Monday to Thursday (5-8 November). Details are available on the BHB website at bdahospitaldev.wpengine.com by clicking on CME Events under Quick Links. Following the lectures, Dr Simpson, the Ethics Committee and BHB staff will participate in two days of workshops.

According to Dr Simpson, one thing everyone can do to make these kinds of situations a little easier is to consider completing an advance directive and choosing a healthcare agent.

“Thinking about what you would want and discussing it with your loved ones ahead of time can ease some of the stress in a very stressful situation,” Dr Simpson said. “In a case where you aren’t able to make your own decisions, an advance directive can take the burden off your loved ones’ shoulders and potentially prevent family turmoil because you’ve made many of the hardest decisions in advance.”

Members of the Ethics Committee will be available in the Acute Care Wing lobby at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) from 12pm to 2pm on Monday 5 November to talk about advance directives, ethical dilemmas, difficult conversations and decision making with members of the public who stop by. The Committee provides medical ethics consultations to healthcare providers, patients and the public by calling 291-HOPE (4673) or emailing ethics@bhb.bm.

Ethics information, tools and advance directive booklets are available at bdahospitaldev.wpengine.com by searching ‘ethics’.

The BHB Ethics Committee comprises about 20 members, including clinical, administrative and community representatives. The Committee promotes awareness of ethical concerns at both KEMH and the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, endorses medical ethics education, provides an ethics consultation service and produces guidelines on prominent issues that can help healthcare professionals consider all aspects of controversial decisions. The Committee also reviews medical research proposals on request and reviews hospital policies to ensure they are ethically sound.

BHB’s Ethics Committee maintains a close relationship with Dalhousie University’s Department of Bioethics, which provides assistance and training in ethical matters.

Featured photo credit: Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com

New Chief of Emergency and Hyperbaric Services announced

27 June 2018: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) today announces the appointment of Dr Chikezie Dean Okereke as Chief of Emergency and Hyperbaric Services, effective Monday 2 July 2018, on a three-year contract. He replaces Dr Edward Schultz, who has retired from BHB.

Dr Okereke has been employed in the Emergency Department of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital since August 2016. After graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Nigeria College of Medicine, Dr Okereke completed postgraduate medical training in the UK, obtaining a Fellowship in Surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and a Fellowship in Emergency Medicine from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. He has also completed a Masters in Medical Education from the University of Leeds.

Prior to joining BHB, Dr Okereke worked as a substantive consultant in Emergency Medicine at the Mid-Yorkshire NHS Trust in the UK for over 16 years. During this period, he held a number of senior medical leadership and training positions within the Trust, the West Yorkshire region and nationally. His main interests are in medical education and training, trauma and critical care. He is a member of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and the British Medical Association, and regularly examines for the College of Emergency Medicine.

Dr Michael Richmond, BHB Chief of Staff, comments: “We are very pleased to announce Dr Chikezie Dean Okereke as the new Chief of Emergency and Hyperbaric Services. We are grateful to Dr Schultz, not only for his long service at BHB, but for continuing in position until this transition could take place. Dr Schultz will be missed by the community and staff and we wish him the very best for the future.

“We now look forward to Dr Okereke providing clinical leadership in ED and Hyperbaric Services to continue improving this busy service at the frontline of care, as we evolve to meet the complex demands of an aging, increasingly unwell population.”

Therapeutic garden for youth with mental health challenges gets $8,000 boost

25 June 2018: Bermuda Hospitals Charitable Trust (BHCT) and Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) today announce an $8,000 donation to develop a therapeutic garden for Child & Adolescent Services (CAS) in its location at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute.

BHCT Executive Director Lisa Sheppard says: “BHCT is very happy to fund the creation of a therapeutic garden for the service users at CAS. We are looking forward to seeing the development of the service to include this type of therapeutic approach. Young people who have challenges need this kind of creative and natural space, and having it available for them at CAS will be a wonderful enhancement of what is already a wonderful service doing amazing work for our youth.”

Jascinth Albouy-Onyia, Assistant Director Mental Health Services, comments: “This wonderful donation will help us create an intimate space where individuals can be immersed in scents, textures and colours. In the garden we will have items such as wind chimes and children’s art, providing both creative and educational opportunities for our service users, both able-bodied and individuals with physical challenges. It will add to the repertoire of interventions available when working with young people with major challenges and psychiatric diagnoses, and those with sensory processing difficulties.

“The sensory features of a therapeutic garden help individuals with natural ‘cues’ to interpret, better use and connect to their environment. The design we envision will be multi-sensory, with taste, touch, smell, sound and visual elements to provide a positive and rewarding experience for service users of our inpatient, outpatient, day programme services, and the Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinic. We are very grateful for this donation which makes this garden possible.”

In the photo above, standing in the area that will be turned into the therapeutic garden, from left to right: R Scott Pearman, Chief Operating Officer, BHB; Preston Swan, Vice President, Clinical Operations, BHB; Lisa Sheppard, Executive Director, BHCT; Ashley Simons-Crane, Clinical Assistant, CAS; and Vikita Basden, Social Worker, CAS.

Bacardi wins Bermuda Corporate Blood Drive – again!

14 June 2018: Bermuda Hospitals Board and the Ministry of Health today reveal Bacardi Limited as the winner of Bermuda’s Corporate Blood Drive Competition 2018, as part of the celebration of World Blood Donor Day. This is the second time in successive years Bacardi has won the competition. In second place was Butterfield & Vallis and in third, Hamilton Re Group.

In its sixth year, the Corporate Blood Donor Drive encouraged 484 whole blood and apheresis donations in total from all competing companies in 2018. That is 14% more than in the 2017 competition and the highest number of donations in any previous year of the competition. It represents about a quarter of all donations over the year.

The Hon Kim Wilson, JP MP, Minister of Health, comments: “Congratulations to Bacardi and thank you to all the competing companies! The Ministry is proud to partner with the Bermuda Blood Donor Centre and BHB for this competition. It’s a great way to encourage blood donations and there is no better return on investment for a company’s community giving than saving lives. Thank you to all the support from our local companies to encourage and support those donating.”

The 18 competing companies were: Argo, Argus, Bacardi Ltd, Bank of NT Butterfield, Bermuda Police Service, BF&M, Bermuda Monetary Authority, Butterfield & Vallis, Department of Corrections, Department of Customs, Department of Health, Fidelity, Hamilton Re Group, Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, Kitson Group of Companies, Lancashire Insurance Company Ltd, SunLife Financial International and Zurich Bermuda.

Dr Eyitayo Fakunle, BHB’s consultant haematologist, comments: “It’s two years in a row for Bacardi and the competition was on fire this year! What great competitors we had. While someone has to win, every donation counts and all our competing companies have saved lives. Every person who donates is there in someone else’s hour of need – they are unsung and anonymous heroes for countless people in Bermuda. It is with gratitude as well as congratulations that we thank the competitors.”

Lisa Frias, Manager, Global Finance, Bacardi Limited, adds: “We are excited to have won for a second consecutive year, our second year of participating in the Corporate Blood Drive. Our staff, their families and friends, and even a few of our consultants, responded well, showing the caring that our company is known for. While we’re happy to have won the trophy, we realise it is a competition in which no one loses. We’re proud to have contributed along with all the other Corporate Blood Drive participants to providing for a record number of donations in the competition.”

A Valentine’s gift for regular blood donors

Wednesday 14 February 2018: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) today announces a new recognition programme for its highly valued regular blood and apheresis* donors. From 14 February 2018, when someone passes a landmark blood or apheresis donation of 10, 20, 50, 75 and 100 donations, they will be awarded a special blood donor pin recognizing their contribution to saving lives in Bermuda.

Dr Eyitayo Fakunle, Consultant Haematologist, comments: “The blood donor pins are a badge of honour that reflect donating over years and decades. We are grateful to all blood and apheresis donors – we have 1,000 people on our donor list and many donate regularly. Over 100 have given 50 units or more and we hope the pins will encourage people to start and keep donating regularly so they can reach the next landmark.

“These pins recognize the donors who come when we call, or schedule appointments regularly, and ensure that when people in Bermuda are in need of a transfusion, the blood is there to save their lives or provide their treatments. They are the unknown heroes of Bermuda and thousands of people alive today have benefited from their donations – there were 1,650 transfusions in 2017 alone.

“All our blood is from volunteers in Bermuda – and we should celebrate the people who make this possible. Our donors show they care over many years and, from today, we can show our gratitude for their giving by recognizing their commitment. I hope they wear their pins with pride.”

Regular blood and apheresis donors who have made 10 or more donations can pick up their pins when they next donate. People who want to start donating or make their next appointment can call 236-5067, or email blood.donor@bhb.bm to book an appointment.

*Apheresis is a special type of blood donation that collects platelets from the blood.

Pictured in the attached are six regular blood and apheresis donors wearing their new pins. From left to right: Janet Smith (28 donations), Richard Bassett (80 donations), Nicole Belboda-Smith (13 donations), Odwin Berkeley (41 donations), Ian Hunter (65 donations), and Eugene Walker (110 donations).

Badge of Honour posters:

• Richard Bassett – Badge of Honour Poster
• Eugene Walker – Badge of Honour Poster
• Ian Hunter – Badge of Honour Poster
• Janet Smith – Badge of Honour Poster
• Nicole Belboda Smith – Badge of Honour Poster
• Odwin Berkeley – Badge of Honour Poster

MWI opens community conversation about improving services

Tuesday 9 January 2018: Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) today invites people to a community conversation event focusing on improving addiction, learning disability and mental health (child, adolescent and adult) services at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute (MWI). The event will take place on Thursday 18 January 2018 at Pier Six. Light refreshments will be provided, with doors opening at 5pm and the event starting at 5:30pm.

Hosted by MWI staff, the event will bring people into conversations about a number of service improvements, some of which come from ideas raised in BHB’s community engagement event last February. Anyone who is interested in improving MWI services is warmly invited to participate, whether a provider of services, a user of services, a family member or a concerned community member.

Projects to be discussed include: a strategy to reduce stigma; establishing a ‘club house’ in Hamilton; supervised community homes for mental health service users; teen life skills programmes in Bermuda; expanding assertive outreach services to schools; learning disability engagement opportunities; and an outreach and education programme for addiction services.

MWI Allied Health Supervisor Morrisa Rogers, who chairs the MWI Engagement Committee organising the event, comments: “We hope there will be a wide variety of perspectives – this is the unique value of this type of community conversation. We have gathered ideas for improvements from community and staff, but to fully appreciate the scope of a project and ensure it reaches its full potential we need service users and providers, concerned residents and families talking with and listening to each other at the very start of a project.”

BHB Chief Operating Officer R Scott Pearman comments: “This event will delve deeper into the purpose and potential of specific projects across all MWI services, making service improvement a truly collaborative effort. We will share what has been achieved since February’s BHB event, but the majority of our time will be listening to people who may not always be at the table, or may not always be talking together, to influence service improvements.”

BHB Chief Executive Officer Venetta Symonds comments: “In February we asked the community generally how can we get it right and nearly 100 people came, raising conversations that were important to them. I’m excited to see community conversations continue as I believe that opening up to community involvement in improvements gives us the best chance of making positive changes.

“If the community values this deep engagement in improving services, we will have similar events for other hospital services. My vision is that we collectively find a new way of evolving, creating change in conversation with the people we serve.”