The administration of the Enmore Regional Hospital has pushed back sharply against criticism from Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed over the treatment and transfer of a critically ill newborn, arguing that the case demonstrates Guyana’s referral system working as designed. But the circumstances surrounding the transfer also raise legitimate questions about the availability and geographic distribution of specialised neonatal care across the public health system.

The controversy centres on a newborn who was reportedly treated initially at Bath Regional Hospital on the West Coast of Berbice in Region Five, before being transferred to Enmore Regional Hospital on the East Coast of Demerara in Region Four, and subsequently moved again to West Demerara Regional Hospital at Vreed-en-Hoop in Region Three for ventilator support and neonatal intensive care.

The sequence means that a critically ill newborn was moved across three administrative regions in search of the required level of specialised care.