THE public health system is in chaos and replete with ineffectiveness, mismanagement and general malaise, with no foreseeable improvement.
This is the view of Chaguanas East Member of Parliament Vandana Mohit, while giving her contribution in Parliament yesterday on the motion, Improve the Delivery of Healthcare Services to the People of Trinidad and Tobago.
Mohit said, despite an allocation in fiscal 2023/2024 of just under $6.5 billion, representing almost 10% of the total budget, the healthcare system continues to be ineffective. She also called for the implementation of a cardiac cath lab and the return of extended hours at health centres throughout the country.
‘Why is it taking this Government so long to build a cardiac cath lab at the San Fernando General Hospital? Because the People’s Partnership government would have identified a space at the San Fernando General Hospital and finalised the user brief in 2015, but eight years later, the people of Trinidad and Tobago are still waiting for the cath lab, which is unacceptable. Sadly, in the meantime, heart patients are dying in this country. The only thing I can do here today is call on this Government to have a heart for the heart patients in this country,’ Mohit said.
She said more than 40 health centres that offered extended-hours service no longer offer that service.
‘Are you improving our healthcare systems? People are always complaining to us about the opening hours, and I can remember that under the People’s Partnership government, the hours were extended. Bring back and extend the extended hours at the health facilities. Open up the system if you want to increase access to our citizens,’ Mohit said.
The MP said bad service and lengthy waiting times
are turning people away from seeking help at the healthcare facilities.
‘One bad experience turns away many people. The Minister of Health must admit that the system is creating a deterrent population. People discharge themselves and this is creating a deterrent situation. When people are fed up, they go home and they are frustrated, and they may not wish to go back to your system. Unfortunately, if you really want to deal with non-communicable diseases, first of all, you need to deal with your system,’ she said.
Mohit said the old strategies to deal with the issues are not working.
‘The Ministry of Health needs to admit that the strategies are not being changed because the big problem still is that you are trying to raise public awareness and education for our citizens, but you are not bringing them up to standard for them to appeal to our citizens.’
Mohit further accused the Government of turning a blind eye to this country’s health issues.
‘In my constituency, someone tested positive for the chikungunya virus…There are dengue cases, and we heard nothing from San Fernando West MP (Faris al-Rawi), the Minister of Local Government, on how the Ministry of Local Government is partnering with the Ministry of Health, regional corporations, and local health authorities to deal with matters such as the chikungunya virus and dengue as they relate to the public healthcare system, and that was disappointing.’
She added: ‘This Government needs to stop behaving as though they are doing the people of this country a favour and the citizens must take what they get because it’s free, but just because it’s free doesn’t mean that the citizens of this country do not deserve proper and quality health care,’ Mohit said.