PAULA GORDON, STAR Writer

The family of a 72-year-old man who died on Wednesday at the Kingston Public Hospital is claiming that the nurses' attachment to their BlackBerry cell phones may have resulted in the death of their loved one.

The family also purports that their relative, Albert Frater, was neglected and ill treated by the hospital's staff.

"Mi feel it enu, yuh know is like when somebody a crucify yuh love one," Ancle Frater, son of Frater told THE WEEKEND STAR yesterday.

THE WEEKEND STAR understands that Frater fell ill on August 2 and was taken to a clinic along Windward Road, where he was examined and given Baralgin for pain.

"Suddenly on Tuesday him tek sick, him say him head was hurting him, pain in him back and him feel weak," his son said.

It is understood that on August 6, Frater had to be rushed to the Kingston Public Hospital because his condition was not improving and he had started vomiting. He was admitted after it was found that his blood pressure was low.

Frater's son said he was hopeful, despite the fact that the staff was neglectful and blatantly rude. He explained that while he was on the ward a nurse approached them and asked what was wrong with his father. He claims that he became upset after she said, "What wrong wid yuh, something wrong wid yuh penis, tell me wah wrong wid yuh nuh."

Frater told THE WEEKEND STAR that his father waited for over two hours to see the doctor and when she finally came she could not make a diagnosis.

He said that as the days progressed his father's condition continued to deteriorate.

"One a di time mi notice say the drip was empty and blood from him hand was going back up in the tube. Mi rush over to the nurse and ask him if dem nuh see say the drip done but him just look up and say him will be right there. All now him nuh look ina mi father direction," Frater said.

He further reasoned that when he went back to the hospital on Tuesday it was as if his father was under a spell.

"I saw my father's hands tied to the bed rail, the drip bag was empty and his blood was still going up into the bag. There was also an oxygen mask over his mouth. Him couldn't stay still."

Further he explained, "Since Saturday from mi see the doctor wi nuh see her again. We were blatantly ignored. Who nuh deh deh pan dem BlackBerry phone deh deh a chat," he expressed.

making plans

THE WEEKEND STAR understands that on Tuesday evening the family was finally told that their relative needed a CT Brain Scan but they would need $12,000 to pay for an ambulance because the hospital did not have any.

They say they began making plans to get the ambulance when they received the dreaded call that their relative had died.

"A doctor who I was seeing for the first time told me that the suspicion of death was that he was bleeding in the brain. He said he told the nurses that early Tuesday morning and they should have told the family."

Frater believes that if the family was given this information as was instructed by the doctor they could have moved swiftly in order to put plans in place to help their relative.

In an interview with THE WEEKEND STAR yesterday, Lyttleton Shirley, chairman of the Southeast Regional Health Authority, said, "What you're saying is not in line with the type of services we offer at KPH. I don't want to dismiss the claim but at the same time we want to investigate."

Furthermore, he noted that, "A hospital like KPH that save so many lives and so many persons come to us and we are short staff, it is very unlikely that the nurses are unattentive. Yes, I don't think one might always be in the mood of pampering but when it comes to offering care I don't think that anywhere offers a better service than we do so I can't accept that our nurses were on their phone."

In the meantime, he said that people who have any kind of discrepancy with the hospital should contact the Patient Affairs director in order for their issue to be addressed.