NWRHA resumes chemotherapy at St James Cancer Centre

The North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) has said the preparation of chemotherapy drugs has resumed at the Cancer Centre of Trinidad and Tobago, St James Medical Complex.

In a release on November 6, the authority said the operational downtime was due to unforeseen delays in procuring the specialised filters essential to ensuring a sterile environment for the preparation of the drugs. It said these filters had to be customised and manufactured by an external provider and then shipped to Trinidad and Tobago.

It thanked patients and their families for their understanding and patience and apologised for the inconvenience. Chemotherapy services would be back to normal as soon as possible, it said, and in the interim, to deal with the backlog, some patients would be contacted about receiving chemotherapy treatment on scheduled Saturdays in November.

On October 10, the NWRHA announced it was experiencing delays in chemotherapy services owing to lack of equipment.

It set up an alternative preparation site at the Port of Spain General Hospital to ensure oncology services remained available at the St James Infirmary. It also adjusted patients' schedules by giving them pre-treatment assessments a day before treatment so that drugs were prepared and available. The NWRHA also introduced more clinical staff, and workers’ hours weve been staggered to accommodate later treatments.

The NWRHA said patients still experiencing delays with their chemotherapy treatment were encouraged to contact the NWRHA’s hotline at 493-2838 Monday-Friday from 8 am-4 pm.