Opposition demands information on donated ventilators

Opposition spokesman on Health, Dr Alfred Dawes, is calling for the Ministry of Health to state the whereabouts of 105 ventilators that were donated to the Government. 

In a media release on Thursday, Dawes said the ventilators were provided through the efforts of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, the European Union and concerned private individuals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"While not intending to politicise recent tragedies affecting public health system users, the opposition reminds the government that mismanagement and corruption in the health sector is paid for in human lives. Despite the increase in the Ministry of Health and Wellness' budget, the allocation and misallocation of funds have left Jamaicans feeling worse off than before the pandemic, which saw the most significant increase in healthcare spending in a generation," Dawes says.

Dawes further states "I wish I didn't have to  comment on the stories circulating on social media, but it must be said that these unfortunate yet expected consequences stem from the reluctance to take the hard road of reforming the entire public health system."

He says the opposition continues to advocate for a holistic review of the healthcare system, rather than focusing solely on mega projects.

He adds that training healthcare workers and expanding their numbers are essential to ensuring the proper staffing of new and renovated facilities.

"As it stands today, the Western Children's Hospital will suffer the same fate as Chapleton Hospital - a beautiful building devoid of patients due to insufficient staff to run the facility," Dawes asserts. 

"We must recruit, develop, and retain staff to run our ICUs, emergency services, hospitals, and clinics while providing them with the necessary tools to deliver the services Jamaicans desperately need," he adds. 

The Gleaner reported on Thursday that a mother has been left agonising over the death of her newborn, who doctors at the May Pen Hospital in Clarendon struggled to keep alive because there was no ventilator.

READ: 'I watched my baby take his last breath'

Meanwhile, on Monday, Health Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, said he ordered a high-level probe into the death of a woman who was admitted to the Falmouth Hospital in Trelawny.

The probe follows complaints on social media from family members who have alleged negligence on the part of the hospital. 

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