Let me begin by categorically

declaring that I never set out to bash any government official whenever I

criticise our public healthcare system. I have no ulterior motives. I am

[simply] extremely concerned for the welfare of hundreds of thousands of my

fellow Jamaicans who have no choice but to access our public healthcare system.

Even as a physician in private practice since 1983, I have seen innumerable

cases of the failure of our public healthcare facilities that lead to severe

sickness and premature death.

Just recently, a

40-something-year-old man was struck from behind by a motor vehicle as he

walked on the sidewalk in his community. The impact threw him into the air, and

he was rendered unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he was in a public

hospital and in a lot of pain. He was told that his right leg was badly

fractured and required internal fixation to realign and stabilise the bones so

that they could heal properly. They put on a plaster cast and gave him a

prescription for the hardware needed to do the surgery.

He has been unable to work

since the crash and he is from a poor family. None of them can afford the

hardware. He has been on crutches and the last X-rays reveal that the bones are

very badly misaligned and attempting to heal in that position. This will

eventually leave him with a shortened and very deformed lower limb – all

because he is poor, and our ‘no-user-fee’ system is unable to supply the

hardware to repair his fracture.

Last year, a patient who was

seeing me for over 30 years fell and broke one of his hips. He was in his early

60’s and, being poor, he went to one of our public hospitals. He was seen,

investigated, and admitted pending surgery for the broken hip. But there was a

big problem, neither he nor his family could afford the hardware needed to

replace the broken hip. Consequently, he was placed on a bed and left on

traction. After six weeks of this, he developed hospital-acquired pneumonia and

died.

He died because he

was poor. He died because, despite Jamaica being an upper-middle-class income

country, our ‘no-user-fee’ system could not afford to supply the hardware to

replace his hip. The family was given a prescription for the hardware, but they

could not raise the money since their combined income can barely keep body and

soul together. That is a disgrace, but the optics emanating from the relevant

ministry portray an alternate reality.

Consequently, this gentleman lay in a bed and became weaker

and weaker while admitted into one of our public hospitals. His relative was

confined to restrictive visiting hours and was not able to ‘spoon feed’ him

regularly. His relative (a son) was also unable to bathe him regularly. Towels,

rags, and some clothing left for him became community property and vanished

repeatedly.

The medical staff requested a

badly needed CT scan, but this major public hospital outsourced the

investigation. His relatives could not come up with the money. This Jamaican

citizen remained, withering away on a bed in one of our public hospitals. No one

attempted to tube feed him or supply nutrients intravenously. No one would meet

with his relatives to explain his situation. The visiting times and the times

when doctors did their rounds did not coincide. On one occasion, I was lucky to

speak with the nursing staff on the ward by telephone, but the group consulted

among themselves and told me that they could not give the attending

physician(s) my telephone number so that I may speak with any of them about my

patient. After many weeks of slow and painful deterioration on a bed in one of

our public hospitals, this gentleman developed hospital-acquired pneumonia and

gave up the ghost. Just prior to his demise, his son was called for a ‘family

meeting’– the badly needed communication was far too little and far too late.

I do not understand this

‘no-user-fee’ system. We are told that it does not pay for some investigations,

no matter how basic, urgent, or lifesaving they may be. We were made to believe

that there were arrangements with some private facilities to provide expensive

investigations. We were told that new scanners were here. We were told of the

Ministry of Health and Wellness compassionate fund; but then, why are citizens

suffering and dying in our public hospitals for lack of needed surgical

hardware and investigations?

I don’t want any defensive or

deflective responses to my concerns, I just want us to do much better for our

poor and ‘ordinary’ citizens. They are as human as the rich and connected among

us. Poverty should not carry a possible death sentence.