Letter of the Day | I am equally disappointed Drs Rattray and Abrahams

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Dr Garth Rattray’s column on Sunday, June 30 expressed disappointment in my responses to a series of criticisms against myself and public health officials. While I respect his and others’ right to their opinions, that right equally extends to those of us who feel compelled to defend our stewardship. Too often, less than thorough analysts, half-truths and anecdotes have been allowed to be portrayed as facts, betraying reality and undermining confidence. This has been the case here, hence my pushback. While I do not intend to respond individually and each time an opinion is aired, I feel that the extent of egregious misrepresentation in these two pieces (moreso in the article by Dr Abrahams) should not be allowed to stand without rebuttal.

In my opinion, that article was shallow in its analysis and misleading in its conclusions.

For starters, the appropriations accounts have been delayed due to incomplete information and systems failures affecting multiple ministries. That was said publicly. In fact, a fair bit of missing data is between 2013-2016, under the People’s National Party administration, and that data need to be reconciled to complete the decade of outstanding accounts. Abrahams missed that point, for whatever reason.

Dr Abrahams’ simplistic assessment was also demonstrated with his comments about Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) and a contract to Archers Funeral Home, owned and operated by an elected councillor in my constituency.

On CRH, Abrahams clearly demonstrated limited understanding between re-scoping a project and cost overrun. To repeat, again, CRH will have every piece of buildout and equipment new when completed, including operating theatres, diagnostics, wards, electrics, plumbing, flooring , A&E and administration, as opposed to what was an initial plan to just fix an air conditioning unit that led to the main building collapsing. The Government, in its wisdom, decided to literally build a new hospital rather than apply a bandage approach to the problem, plus building out other infrastructure to support services outside of the main building, hence the cost difference. Also of note is the fact that we had a three-year delay due to COVID-19, hence the time delays in completion.

The most egregious infraction by Abrahams was his conclusion around Archers Funeral Home. Given the propaganda campaign against me on this issue I took time to understand how this industry works, something he should have done. First, it is not unusual for a funeral home to have a contract to serve more than one parish. More specifically, Archers and Tranquillity funeral homes are the only two on the island with contracts from the Ministry of National Security to host coroner’s inquests. This means, bodies subjected to this process are transported from every parish to one of these two locations. My disappointment is that Abrahams did not take the time to inquire about how the industry works and what maybe the possible reasons for this. Instead, he faultily equates a public procurement contract with hints of corruption. In fact, use of anecdotes to draw faulty conclusions was a pattern in his piece, including his insinuation about the company Market Me and the JaMoves programme, a matter that was aired in Parliament at the Public Accounts Committee.

The other issues around maternal mortality have never been denied by public health. In fact, we released the data, explained the context of COVID-19 and challenges in the Americas, and indicated a plan to address this. The chief medical officer of the MOHW has led this charge. How is this obfuscation?

My disappointment lies in the manner in which those who should have some experience in these matters, draw on anecdotes to determine positions, including making serious and faulty allegations.

While I agree that the system is not perfect, it has served many admirably, and getting better. More doctors, nurses, drugs and buildings have been added than any other Government post-independence. It cannot be right or fair to draw conclusions, while ignoring these and other facts mentioned earlier.

Each year sees, on average, three million visits to hospitals and health centres, 200,000 persons spending five days or less for inpatient care, and the overwhelming majority leave after receiving support from our over 23,000 health staff.

Finally, It was difficult over the past week to separate the politics from the policies, especially with how the information was presented, who said what, and conclusions drawn.

CHRISTOPHER TUFTON

Minister of Health

and Wellness