Business View Caribbean
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terventions and a very, very few, if any, neurosurgical
cases. We have two neurosurgeons, two cardiovascu-
lar surgeons, and seven or eight specialists in ophthal-
mology - apart from general adult ophthalmology, we
have pediatric ophthalmology, ocular plastics, corneal,
retinal, and neuro-ophthalmology. So there are a num-
ber of specialties for eyes. In the case of obstetrics and
gynecology, we now have consultants in high risk preg-
nancies, and we have a consultant in gyne-oncology
who addresses all ‘below-the-belt’ cancers in women.”
Queen Elizabeth Hospital has 2,100 employees. “It’s
the largest single employer of public officers in any
one space,” James states. “We are a stand-alone facil-
ity with a number of departments having outpatient
clinics within the hospital. So, surgery has its own
outpatient clinics, as do pediatrics, obstetrics and gy-
necology, and, of course, internal medicine. So, when
patients are seen and surgical interventions are done,
and patients are discharged from the hospital, they
are then seen in outpatient clinics within the hospital,
and within the respective specialty where the proce-
dure was done.”
Because Barbados practices a socialized model of
healthcare, akin to the same type of model found in the
UK and Canada, any Barbadian national or permanent
resident of the island can take advantage of any of
QEH’s services at no charge. “It is funded by taxation,”
James says. “Once you are a citizen or permanent resi-
dent, healthcare is free at the point of delivery – you
don’t pay anything at all for healthcare. We receive our
allocation as approved by Parliament and funds are
then dispersed to us from the Treasury via the Minis-
try of Finance. Those funds are allocated across the
hospitals and health clinics in the country. The Queen
Elizabeth Hospital has been set up as a statutory body,
and therefore, we have a Board of Directors and an
executive management team responsible for the op-
erations and management of the hospital. So we can
partially direct how our funds are utilized to improve
the quality of services and where our priorities lie in
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
Queen Elizabeth Hospital
WHAT:
Barbados’ primary, acute care medical
facility
WHERE:
Bridgetown, Barbados
WEBSITE
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