The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

JERAD Darville said allegations of neglect surrounding the recent death of a patient at Princess Margaret Hospital reopened wounds he has struggled to close since losing his 33-year-old wife Kenise there nearly two years ago.

Mr Darville said the claims made by the family of Clanesha Adderley mirrored what he experienced after his wife died at PMH in January 2023.

“It felt like reopened wounds,” Mr Darville said yesterday.

The death of Ms Adderley shocked the country after her family told The Tribune they found the mother cold and unresponsive in a PMH ward, claiming staff were unaware she had passed.

Hours before her death on November 14, her family said Ms Adderley instructed them to send her case to a lawyer and sue PMH. They also recalled moments when she called home asking relatives to contact the nurses’ station because she could not get help.

Mr Darville said hearing those details brought him back to the days leading up to his wife’s death. Kenise, a mother-of-three, died days after posting a video on Facebook outlining what she described as negligence and poor healthcare at the hospital.

The video, which remains on her Facebook page, has more than 240,000 views. Her death prompted her family to demand an investigation and renewed calls for reform of the public healthcare system.

“To tell you the truth, I felt disappointed because the prime minister gave me his word that he would make sure to look into this and that these sorts of things shouldn’t be happening,” Mr Darville said.

“It's one thing that persons have an untimely demise. But it’s a next thing that nobody even knew, that nobody even was paying attention.”

Mr Darville said it was especially frustrating that healthcare workers at PMH are rarely held accountable or reprimanded, claiming officials often avoid public scrutiny by refusing to identify doctors and senior nurses involved in such cases.

He said no one was held accountable for his wife’s death. In a letter dated March 8, 2023, the Public Hospital Authority said Kenise died because she was extremely ill and reported no shortcomings in the care provided by staff.

Mr Darville said while nurses and patient care technicians are often blamed, he believes the problem runs deeper, affecting staff who are overworked, underpaid, and operating with limited resources.

“All of this comes down to a management issue, and the persons who are being paid the most money to be able to solve these issues are sitting on their hands and not doing a Christ thing about it,” he said.

He added that building a second hospital in New Providence would not address long-standing staff frustrations, which he said directly affect patient care.

The stories of Ms Adderley and Ms Darville, he said, reflect the experiences of many Bahamian families who believe their loved ones were neglected while under the care of PMH.

This week, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said his ministry would “do everything in its power” to investigate the death of Ms Adderley.