Bad hospital experiences dominate social media — Wheatley

The Dr D Orlando Smith Hospital in Road Town Health Minister Vincent Wheatley has expressed concern that negative experiences at the Dr D Orlando Smith Hospital receive widespread attention on social media, while positive accounts of patient care often go unreported. Speaking on the Virgin Islands Voice programme recently, Wheatley said the hospital provides many positive experiences, but complaints tend to attract greater public attention. “All the thousand wonderful stories from down there, you hardly ever hear about it. But the two bad ones, they’re all over social media in five minutes. It’s a challenge,” Wheatley stated. The minister made the remarks after programme host Kareem-Nelson Hull recounted his recent experience taking his godson to the hospital for treatment of a broken limb.

Hull said the child received prompt attention from nurses, had his wound redressed and underwent an X-ray. He said the entire visit, including travelling to West End and returning to work, took less than his lunch hour. “And here’s a challenge we have. That’s a wonderful experience. First time I’m hearing it, is now. But if it was a bad experience, you’ll be all over Facebook with it,” Wheatley stated. The minister said the government introduced a system that lets patients report unsatisfactory experiences and have their concerns addressed. “That’s one of the things we implemented from the strategic plan is … a feedback system. You have a bad experience, you could go and sign up and say what it is,” Wheatley explained. He added that someone had been assigned responsibility for quality control and handling such complaints. The minister also defended the hospital’s doctors and nurses, acknowledging that they sometimes work under difficult…