Health Minister Dr. Duane sands said issues surrounding dialysis in The Bahamas is an “ongoing crisis” that has been occurring for over a decade. 

Last month, the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) issued a memo proposing a weekly charge rate of $150 for transport patients to and from the Dialysis Unit three times a week.

 This was hotly debated, but Dr. Sands said the issues surrounding the Dialysis Unit go far beyond that. 

 “We continue to have significant challenges because we don’t have enough nursing, because the equipment requires upgrades, and all of these things we are trying to address to find out what is the appropriate way forward,” he said.

Dr. Sands added that there is not enough treatment time in the Princess Margaret Hospital Dialysis Unit, therefore a number of patients experience a reduction in their treatment time. 

A dialysis patient should have three to four hours of treatment for three days a week. However, some may only receive two hours in one sitting.

 “These are real problems. We don’t have the dialysis nurses to provide the level of care that we would like to provide, and yet we’re mandated to solider on,” he said.

The minister said the issue of nursing and the loss of critical care nurses add to this problem. 

Dr. Sands said officials are also seeking to make much needed upgrades to PMH.

 “There have been complaints about the lack of availability of CAT scans and imaging, and that is because we are putting in brand new imaging equipment throughout the Radiology Department,” he said.

Dr. Sands added that there was a need to continue to do the entire area at once as opposed to conducting renovations in stages, which has created some level of inconvenience for both the public and staff. 

 “When this is done, certainly by October, we will have a brand-new CAT scan, and we will have brand new imaging equipment,” Dr. Sands said.

He said that he expects these face-lifts will dramatically improve the quality of service and technology moving forward.