RUSM’s Assistant Professor in Clinical Medicine and consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist Dr. Sandra Bynoe presents the cheque to BFPA’s Director of Clinical Services Dr. Rashida Daisley while RUSM’s Chair of Clinical Foundations Dr. Ricardo Hood looks on.
Pregnant women using the services of the Barbados Family Planning Association (BFPA) will now be able to have their babies’ heart rates monitored.
This as students of the Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) have donated funds for the purchase of a cardiotocography (CTG) machine.
Moments before presenting the cheque on Friday at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, RUSM Assistant Professor in Clinical Medicine and consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist Dr. Sandra Bynoe, said the need for such a machine had been identified by students conducting practical training activities at the BFPA’s clinic.
“The students would have looked at the patient journey of a pregnant woman throughout the family planning visits and what they realised is that at sometimes we would have to refer patients to the hospital to have a CTG monitor. The patients were not always keen on this and the students realised this and worked tirelessly to raise funds to purchase this machine for the Family Planning Association. So you can see that they would have put great thought into this gift. With this gift, patients would no longer have to leave to go to the hospital and would be monitored at the BFPA, which would also be of benefit to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital as it would cut down on their load,” she added.
Extending thanks on behalf of the BFPA, its Director of Clinical Services Dr. Rashida Daisley said the much needed CTG machine will help to improve the quality of the association’s antenatal care and lead to better patient outcomes.
She also utilised the opportunity to speak on the work done by the Ross students at the BFPA.
“In the pre-Covid era, BFPA happily provided a facility to the budding Ross physicians to receive practical training in some areas of gynaecology. This ability to interact with a diverse subset of patients not only enabled the development of their clinical skills, but also provided an opportunity to learn compassion and understanding; skills that are often undervalued but critical to quality clinical care. BFPA has a strong relationship with Ross University School of Medicine and at every interaction we’ve been very impressed by the quality of medical education provided,” she added. (JMB)