BHB response to 27 November Royal Gazette article
Friday 27 November 2020: BHB’s CEO & President, Dr Michael Richmond, wishes to strongly refute the headline in The Royal Gazette on Friday 27 November, and reassure the public that its hospitalist programme, which employs fully trained doctors who have been working on the frontlines of the pandemic this year, has been appropriately directed and managed. It has, in fact, achieved a 3% cost improvement compared to the same period last year.
Dr Richmond comments: “The Royal Gazette article that ran today includes grave and untrue allegations. Additionally, The Royal Gazette omitted from its published story parts of BHB’s response, which makes it seem as if issues raised were not responded to.
“The allegation in the headline that this is a ‘scam’ is both misleading and malicious, and is not a full representation of the hospital’s response. The omission of parts of our response from the article that addressed the allegations makes this feel like an unjustified attack not only on the hospital but on our frontline professional medical staff.
“This year we experienced the first global pandemic in 100 years that has claimed nine lives and infected well over 200 people in Bermuda. The hospital and all its staff have been working under extreme duress and yet, despite this, BHB’s inpatient medical service – which includes the hospitalists and medical officers overseeing care for all inpatients – incredibly only went over the planned budget for this period by 2.74%. This budget was set before we knew there would be a pandemic. Furthermore, this is $86,000 less or a 3% improvement on the same period in 2019. This highlights that the new scheduling approaches that we were trialling this year, which had hospitalists undertaking more 12 hour shifts, is working.
“I would add that, after a further review today, since March there have been ten instances when there have been authorised variations to the planned schedule to ensure the highest level of patient care and safety were maintained. This is not something that happens frequently – certainly not an ongoing ‘scam’ that The Royal Gazette alleges. The dates in July were scheduled 12 hour shifts planned due to the workload and the pressure in this month was explained in our statement to The Royal Gazette, but was not included in the story.
“It was also inferred that concerns were reported to the Deputy CEO and CFO but went unaddressed. The complaint about hospitalist scheduling was made to them originally in a meeting with the BPSU in July. A review of schedules for hospitalists and medical officers was added to the workplan for cost savings and this review was explained in our original statements to The Royal Gazette.
“I am disappointed that two anonymous sources are quoted as making unfounded allegations, but we continue to look at improvements to our efficiency, and welcome all ideas on this. I have full confidence in how this service is run, and furthermore great appreciation and gratitude for the workload managed by the management and team this year given the extreme challenges we have faced.”
Responses from BHB The Royal Gazette did not publish:
BHB did respond to questions about the times hospitalists filled in when a medical officer was not able to carry out the overnight shift. We explained that the schedules do not give the full picture about the issues the hospital was facing during the pandemic. As a department that has been short-staffed during this intense and challenging time, the team managed amazingly to ensure we could care for our patients. The following response was sent to The Royal Gazette, but was not included in the article regarding dates from 3 April to 15 July that the journalist had asked BHB to look into:
“Through April and May we were seeing an increasing number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital, and from June through to July we experienced a significant surge in demand following the relaxation of lockdown. These patients were very unwell, some of them having delayed seeking care due to the lockdown and fears about being in hospital during the pandemic. Comparing the full month of June to July, we saw an increase from 350 admissions to 450, a month on month increase of about 100 people, or 29%.”
We would add, that in March, the hospital was in full response mode to the pandemic as we began to see COVID-19 patients in Emergency and inpatients who tested positive and had to scale up our capacity significantly and prepare for infectious and potentially very sick patients. Our physicians were in the vanguard of these preparations.
Allegations about hospitalists leaving their post were reviewed. The Royal Gazette went ahead and quoted allegations extensively, but did not print the response we sent to them:
“There is no evidence of the misconduct alleged by the anonymous source in the hospitalist group. Our hospitalists have specific duties of care for their cohort of patients which must be met as part of their contracts. There is professional discretion to allow hospitalists to work remotely in certain circumstances once all on-site and direct patient care duties are attended to, though they still must respond within time frames established by the medical staff for emergent, urgent and routine requests.”
Furthermore, we sent detailed information to The Royal Gazette about the scheduling review that is already underway. We were disturbed by the journalist in his editorial comments claiming “Concerns about the practice were raised with BHB management in July, but have yet to be tackled.” We did provide details of the review that is underway. Here is the full response that was sent to The Royal Gazette:
“BHB regularly reviews use of overtime throughout the organisation and has started work on reviewing hospitalist and medical officer schedules. This work is being undertaken in partnership with KPMG, who provide benchmarking and experience from overseas hospitals to help us find the most efficient way to provide the most effective service. Work already is well advanced for reviewing and updating schedules for nursing – our biggest professional group. Meetings started this month on schedules for medical staff, including hospitalists and medical officers.
“While this is recent work, the cost of staffing and use of overtime is a constant area of focus for BHB, even more so as we try to respond to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes to the hospitalist and medical officer schedules had been made this year as a first step to improved patient care as well as reduce double-time/overtime expenditures. This included more scheduled 12 hour shifts for the hospitalists.”
Finally, as had been included in an official response to the journalist, there is at least one on-site hospitalist at KEMH 24 hours a day. This was explained in more detail to the journalist – that there is a hospitalist on-site overnight who oversees admissions in ED and covers all the inpatient wards. It is highly questionable therefore why the journalist repeats misinformation that they are only ‘on call’ and medical officers are on their own.
We remain, as noted in the BHB quote to The Royal Gazette, open to improving all our processes, including scheduling to ensure we running as efficiently as possible. It is upsetting and damaging for healthcare professionals when a published story in The Royal Gazette is so unbalanced, and attacks the professionalism and integrity of those who have been working tirelessly on the frontlines of care to ensure BHB could prepare to safely care for all those in need through the pandemic.
Archives
- 1 November - Oncology Service Notice
- 22 October - Reduce your stroke risk with physical activity
- 15 October - Caring for patients at KEMH
- 6 October - BHB to host Mental Health Awareness Fair
- 18 August - Baby Sarai born in the eye of Ernesto
- 29 July - BHB awards $190,000 in scholarships
- 18 July - No through traffic at KEMH on 20 July
- 20 June - No through traffic at KEMH on 21 June
- 10 June - No through traffic at KEMH on 12 June
- 30 May - BHB MRI service up and running
- 22 May - BHB’s MRI temporarily down
- 12 March - BHB celebrates World Kidney Day
- 29 February - Generous donation after life-saving cardiac care
- 3 January - Bermuda’s first baby of 2024 is born
- 25 December - Two babies born on Christmas Day
- 18 December - Scott Pearman appointed as BHB CEO from January 2024
- 15 December - Only visit your loved ones in hospital if you feel well
- 29 November - Green is good for your mental wellness
- 22 November - Donation brings new treatment for enlarged prostate
- 17 November - BHB resumes pre-COVID visiting hours
- 10 November - BHB histopathology tests and post-mortem reports
- 29 September - BHB turns on pink lights
- 18 September - BHB to host free Falls Prevention Mini Expo
- 13 July - Blood donor raffle winners announced
- 24 May - Free CPR training could save a life
- 27 February - Faster and more efficient laundry now in operation
- 6 January - KEMH welcomes first babies of 2023
- 3 January - BHB looks forward to PEARL benefits
- 28 December - BHB COVID update
- 25 December - Three babies born on Christmas Day
- 22 December - BHB jobs fair attracts over 300
- 21 December - Community initiative for old St. James’ Church rectory
- 5 December - BHB updates COVID guidelines
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- 17 November - BHB Traffic Advisory for Monday 21 November 2022
- 13 November - PEARL Implementation Update
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- 27 October - BHB prepares for PEARL’s implementation
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- 9 August - Donate blood and win a ride on a Whip
- 24 July - BHB laundry gets $6.6 million upgrade
- 3 February - BHB CT scan service has resumed
- 27 January - BHB and Brown Darrell collaborate on CT service
- 9 December - BHB COVID-19 Remembrance Tree
- 30 November - BHB turns on green light for mental health awareness
- 2 November - BHB to ease visiting restrictions starting Wednesday
- 22 October - BHB moves to Disaster Alert Level 3
- 18 October - Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre resumes normal hours
- 28 September - BHB morgue service impacted by the pandemic
- 17 September - BHB Moves to Highest Alert Level
- 7 September - BHB visitor restrictions reintroduced due to delta surge
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- 22 July - BHB cautiously opens up to more visitors
- 21 July - BHB announces breast ultrasound service
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- 30 March - BHB update in response to COVID-19 surge
- 24 February - BHB Food Services team completes nutrition course
- 2 February - UCC returns to longer weekday hours
- 1 February - Preston Swan takes on acting COO role
- 26 January - More visitors allowed from 27 January
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- 18 January - Bermuda Hospitals Board COVID-19 vaccination update
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- 6 January - New year’s baby makes a late appearance
- 29 December - Update on BHB Long Term Care COVID-19 Cases
- 24 December - BHB Confirms Two Patient Cases in Long Term Care Area
- 23 December - Call for new blood donors to help over the holidays
- 17 December - Dr Wesley Miller appointed as BHB chief of staff
- 14 December - Lamb Foggo UCC Winter Weekday Hours
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- 24 July - Road closure at KEMH on 27 July
- 21 July - Dr Michael Richmond appointed as BHB CEO
- 2 June - BHB moves to limited visitation
- 19 May - A COVID-19 birthday story
- 29 April - Please wear a mask to the hospital
- 15 April - Police, Fire and Regiment salute KEMH staff
- 13 April - KEMH creates more isolation rooms
- 8 April - Ace Barber Unit converted for pandemic
- 20 March - Only essential visiting now allowed at BHB
- 18 February - BHB releases internal management accounts data
- 18 February - BHB road traffic accident statistics for January 2020
- 31 January - Winter hours at Lamb Foggo UCC extended to February
- 6 January - BHB seeks students for 2020 summer programme
- 1 January - BHB welcomes first babies of 2020
- 2 December - BHB awarded top level of accreditation
- 26 September - World Heart Day: BHB offers free CPR training
- 19 September - BHB welcomes Storm
- 16 September - Hurricane Emergency Kit Guide for Diabetes Patients
- 10 September - 2019 Scholarship Winners Announced
- 4 September - BHB CEO Notifies of Early Retirement in 2020
- 14 August - Improved diabetes management for inpatients
- 16 April - BHB celebrates occupational health nurses
- 25 March - BHB implements hand hygiene audit
- 11 March - Public Advisory: KEMH through road closure
- 22 February - KEMH asphalt resurfacing works
- 6 February - Public Advisory: KEMH roof sealing works
- 5 February - Red Cross Donates Scooter to Gordon Ward Residents
- 22 January - BHB Public Advisory on the Flu
- 5 December - Bermuda Blood Donor Centre thanks polo shirt donors
- 23 October - Walk-in Mammography Day on Thursday
- 12 September - Bermuda Hospitals Board offers free hands-only CPR training
- 26 February - Bermuda Hospitals Board now offers Cardiac CT Scanning
- 14 February - A Valentine’s gift for regular blood donors
- 25 December - Bermuda Hospitals Board welcomes Christmas baby 2017
- 24 November - Public Advisory: Lamb Foggo UCC closed this weekend
- 18 October - KEMH Mammography Department puts breast health first
- 16 October - Bermuda Hospitals Board Traffic Advisory
- 19 September - Bermuda Hospitals Board launches island-wide asthma campaign
- 14 September - Bermuda Hospitals Board has two certified dementia trainers
- 14 September - Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre closed this weekend
- 23 March - CEO Venetta Symonds on bed capacity at KEMH
- 17 March - Corporate Blood Drive competition heats up
- 22 February - Lamb Foggo UCC to reopen 1 March
- 1 February - Ms Patrice Dill leaves BHB
- 24 January - BHB introduces Patient-Centred Medical Home
- 20 January - Community invited to open up about BHB services
- 2 January - BHB welcomes New Year’s baby
- 26 December - BHB welcomes Christmas baby
- 22 December - Notice: Holiday hours at UCC and Emergency Department
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- 27 September - END OF FISCAL YEAR (2015/16) UPDATE
- 16 September - Urgent Care Centre Closure this Weekend
- 7 September - BHB Update on the Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre
- 1 September - Outpatient clinics at KEMH have moved
- 5 August - New hours at Craig Appin House reception
- 25 July - Call for O Negative Blood Donations
- 24 July - Agape House has reopened
- 21 July - BHB Releases CEO Salary Data
- 15 July - BHB Releases 2012 Annual Report
- 16 May - BHB releases salary data
- 4 May - Teen suicide public debate
- 27 April - Dr Keith Chiappa Appointed as Chief of Staff
- 22 February - Agape House 25th anniversary
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- 8 February - Blood Donor Centre request to recent donors
- 3 February - BHB Rehabilitation Day Hospital temporarily moved
- 3 February - MRI service at BHB has resumed
- 2 February - Agape House now in Curtis Ward
- 12 January - Kiwanis Clubs Donate $21,000 To Maternity
- 6 January - MRI service interruption
- 5 January - BHB to demolish two buildings on KEMH campus
- 30 December - BHB Posts Hospital-Wide Accreditation Report to Website
- 5 October - Hurricane Joaquin babies at KEMH
- 28 September - MWI sewage treatment plant completed
- 14 September - Acute Care Wing first anniversary – shorter hospital stays
- 18 June - Second Oncologist Joins BHB
- 21 May - BHB Spring Talent Showcase
- 15 April - CCU patients have a new home in KEMH
- 16 February - BHB to dispose of condemned items
- 12 February - Bermuda Hospitals 2014 Update
- 5 February - Operating Rooms now in the Maternity Ward
- 14 September - Emergency Department opens in new Acute Care Wing
- 4 September - Acute Care Wing opens next week
- 29 August - Letter to the Editor of The Royal Gazette
- 12 August - Acute Care Wing opens next month
- 22 July - Tour D´oeuvres and Public Tours
- 15 July - Chance to win a tour of the new wing
- 4 July - Consultant Geriatrician Appointed
- 19 June - BHB mount exhibition
- 9 June - Retiring Blood Donors Honoured
- 15 May - The Back-up generators
- 28 April - We´re connected!
- 21 April - Acute Care Wing: – new features on the face
- 16 April - Atrium- Bringing light to the interior
- 10 April - The New Emergency Department
- 13 February - BHB introduces Eddie the Elephant
- 30 January - Road Works on Point Finger Road this weekend
- 27 January - BHB announce revised opening date
- 16 January - Craneiom comes down
- 7 January - New Chief of Pathology Appointed
- 29 November - Urgent Care Centre Hours Confirmed
- 28 November - Dr Sam Mir Appointed Director of Cardiology
- 14 November - Chairman, CEO speak at Sandys Rotary
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- 15 October - New Acute Care Wing Construction Update
- 10 September - CEO and Chairman Speak at Hamilton Rotary
- 6 September - Planned Power Outage at MWI this Weekend
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- 24 July - BHB Board Update – 24 July 2013
- 30 April - New Chief of Staff Appointed
- 5 February - Auditor General Informs BHB of Review
- 1 November - BHB Tackles Healthcare Ethics in the Digital Age
- 8 October - Mental Health Awareness Week Tackles Depression
- 2 October - Clinical & Corporate Governance Review Update
- 27 September - Voices Against Stigma: MindFrame PhotoVoice 2012 Launches
- 19 September - BHB´s 2011 Annual Report Released
- 7 August - Chief of Human Resources Appointed
- 16 February - BHB Sees Patient Satisfaction with Services Rise
- 16 February - New CT Scanner Provides Faster and More Accurate Results
- 10 February - Road Works Planned for South Shore
- 31 January - Hospital Marks Healthy Heart Month
- 22 November - Bermuda Hospitals Board Achieves Full Accreditation
- 7 November - Hospital Celebrates Advances in Diagnostic Imaging
- 27 October - Ethics Week 2011 Offers Food For Thought
- 12 August - Venetta Symonds To Be BHB CEO from 7 April 2012
- 6 April - Construction Begins
- 23 November - MindFrame PhotoVoice Exhibition Winners Announced
- 28 October - MWI Host Mental Health Forum for Community
- 28 October - Ethics Week Keeps it Confidential
- 13 October - Premier Visits Site of New Hospital Facility
- 10 September - BHB evaluates three bids
- 4 June - Parking Lot Takes Shape
- 4 May - KEMH Hosts Asthma Day Open House
- 26 March - Site preparation work begins
- 18 March - New Online Applications Process for BHB Jobs
- 23 December - Specifications for New Facilities Complete
- 23 December - BHB Releases Request for Proposal to Shortlisted Bidders
- 28 October - BHB Approves Shortlist of Qualified Bid Teams
- 27 October - New Chief of Nursing, Quality & Risk Appointed
- 14 October - Specifications Take Shape
- 10 September - New Director of Facilities Appointed
- 3 September - New Ambulance Fleet Unveiled
- 1 September - Pembroke Rotary Helps MWI Clients Snap into Action
- 25 August - Hospital Appoints Psychiatrists at MWI
- 29 July - Advisory Teams Evaluate KEMH Site
- 24 June - Robot Enhances Patient Care
- 11 June - World Blood Donor Day- June 14
- 8 May - Market Briefing Presentation
- 30 April - KEMH Hosts World Asthma Day Fair
- 16 March - Redevelopment Update
- 3 February - Presentation To Contractors
- 3 February - Presentation To Architects & Engineers
- 2 February - Hospital Opens New Pilot Patient Rooms
- 12 November - Johns Hopkins Phase II Report Released
- 20 October - Hospital Launches Infection Prevention Week
- 16 October - Mind Frame Art Exhibit Opens at City Hall
- 14 October - BHB Invests to Strengthen Nursing
- 29 July - Mother Support: Going for the Gold
- 27 March - Hospital Improves Laundry Service
- 23 January - Hospital Switchboard Undergoes 2-Hour Upgrade
- 20 December - New Director of Human Resources Appointed
- 27 November - Opening the Doors to Wound Care
- 11 October - Mind Frame Art Exhibit Opens at City Hall
- 6 September - Emergency Department Staff Receive Specialized Training
- 21 August - Dr Donald Thomas Appointed as Chief of Staff
- 15 February - Single Largest Donor Funds Improvements at Hospitals
- 1 February - Have You the Heart to Find Out Your Risk?
- 22 November - Day Hospital Provides Rehabilitative Services
- 17 October - Bermuda Hospitals Board Update on Estate Master Plan
- 16 October - Infection Control Week – It’s In Your Hands
- 9 October - Mental Health Awareness Week 2006
- 26 September - Deputy CEO Comments on Bermuda Hospitals Board Next Steps
- 21 September - Bermuda Hospitals Board Changes First Public Meeting Venue
- 20 September - Bermuda Hospitals Board Public Meetings
- 18 September - Safer and Faster X-ray Service Now Available to Patients
- 7 September - Community Open Houses to be Held at KEMH
- 10 July - BHB and BPSU Reach Three Year Agreement
- 21 February - Bermuda Hospitals Board Appoints Acting CEO
- 30 December - BHB Chairman Steps Down
- 12 September - Community Newsletter Available to Island Residents
- 6 September - Bermuda Hospitals Board Awarded Three-Year Accreditation
- 30 August - BHB Chairman Addresses Hamilton Rotary Club
- 7 April - Hospitals Launch New Web Site
- 1 November - November is Hospice Awareness Month in Bermuda
- 8 October - DEPRESSION
- 8 October - Schizophrenia
- 8 October - Substance Use
- 8 October - ANXIETY
- 7 October - Learning Disability
- 6 October - CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH
- 6 October - CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEPRESSION
- 5 October - Bermuda’s Mental Health Awareness Week
- 4 October - STIGMA AND MENTAL HEALTH