From the Daily Nation, Barbados —

There are only two urologists in Barbados, and one of them is leaving to work  in Canada within the next month. Dr Dave Padmore (pictured), the well known adult and paediatric urologist, said the decision to leave was “largely made on a need for professional development at this time”.

Although Dr. Padmore would not disclose where he would be attached in Canada, he said it would be a temporary move for the next two years.

The other urologist on the island is Dr Jerry Emtage.

Padmore, who currently handles thousands of patients, said he had been back at home for the last 11 years, operating in private practice. When he first returned to the island, there were no available posts for urologists at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and to date there are still none.

“Just like any professional, I need to be mindful of my own development over the course of my career, and it has reached a point where I am not able to do that here,” he stated.

Padmore said he needed to have access to a larger number of patients, which would have meant being involved in both private and public care in Barbados, smaller customer service oriented facilities like Bayview, and larger teaching facilities like the QEH, and he had not been able to find a way to work in both settings here.

“I have been presented with an opportunity to do it in Canada, and I need to do it for a while if I am to develop and maintain certain skills necessary for urologists in an isolated setting like this,” he noted.

However, although he can no longer handle any new patients that have not yet been referred, those who are already his patients “have been assured that they will be provided with continued regular care”.

Honorary Secretary of the Barbados Cancer Society Dr Dorothy Cooke-Johnson said the association was already in dire straits, with just two urologists on the island.

“Something has to be done. I don’t know what we will do. Urologists are in enormous demand anywhere in the world, and if any of them goes, they are irreplaceable. They are already overstretched and we can’t afford to just have one,” she lamented.

Cooke-Johnson said she was estimating there were over 40 000 men between 40-75 who needed to be tested.

Executive director of the Barbados Family Planning Association and President of the Men’s Health Association George Griffith said the two organisations had mixed feelings about Padmore’s leaving. “He was heading the total quality care service for the men’s clinic and he was the principal urologist in that clinic. We want to wish him every success in his endeavours, but we will miss him dearly,” he lamented.

Griffith said Padmore was very committed to his work and “would be a hard act to follow”.

Kathy Lehay · Montego Bay, Jamaica

A Barbados-born, Jamaica-resident social worker and feminist, Kathy Lehay is an independent care worker and gender specialist who provides one-on-one skills training and social support for disadvantaged women and families in Jamaica. She holds an MA Gender Studies and BA Social Work.

kathy@antillean.org