REAL NEWS: The wait for services at the Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre is far too long, some residents are complaining, and the administration appears to be insensitive to the fact that people are suffering, a civil servant complains.
The woman contacted REAL News today, April 6, explaining that she went to the facility to make an appointment for an eye examination, and was told the earliest date available is at the end of August.
She reports that her exclamation of dismay – at facing a more-than-four-months wait – was met with what she considers a “cold” response. She alleges she was told she could “go private.”
Had she been able to afford a private doctor, the woman notes angrily, she would not have subjected herself to the stresses of seeking services at the public hospital.
“If you saw the crowd up there this morning,” she exclaims. “This place makes me sick!”
Therefore, she is calling on the Ministry of Health to increase either the number of personnel or the equipment needed to allow residents – especially poor people – to access care in a timelier manner.
Meanwhile, dozens of persons are expressing alarm over rumours that the OECS Cancer Centre, intended to be a satellite of the hospital, will be closing.
Unconfirmed reports have said the centre is unable to afford its own upkeep and that the Government has not been forthcoming with financial support.
Cancer victims and their families say that, rather than closing the Centre down, the services of this facility need to be expanded, given the prevalence of the disease in Antigua and Barbuda and the region.
One woman accuses Minister of Health Sir Molwyn Joseph of being “callous and indifferent” to the needs of those afflicted with cancer – the treatment of which is often long and always costly.
“Because they (government ministers) have proper health insurance and they can get on a plane and go overseas for care, they forget the rest of us are not so lucky,” another says.
Ironically, according to Cabinet Notes published on March 16, Sir Molwyn reported that the Ministry of Health had received a diagnostic machine used for cancer screening from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Meanwhile, looking back at the groundbreaking ceremony held in 2013, the former head of the Antigua and Barbuda Investment Authority (ABIA), MacChesney Emanuel, reflected on the “enthusiastic support” the Authority had given the Cancer Centre project.
Given its importance as a health-care facility intended to serve the sub-region, Emanuel tells REAL News he is “deeply saddened to learn that this centre is closing,” and laments that the Browne Administration is unable to keep the facility open.
The Cancer Centre was conceived by, and begun under, former Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer.
“It’s like this Administration wants to erase everything Spencer put in place,” a banker tells our Newsroom, pointing to the naming of the hospital and the “huffing” of both the Knuckleblock Community Centre and the Five Islands Secondary School.
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The state of services at the SLBMC is deplorable. A family member who was experiencing stomach pains was given an ultra sound appointment SIX months out. What is the much vaulted Sir Molwyn Joseph, Minister of Health, doing to improve the health care services for the ordinary man and woman? Does the Government even care?
@ JackiO: It is amazing how the pig can squeal so loud when it is by the stone that it is thrown at it. I do empathize with you however it surprises that many voices are not heard pleading for an improvement at SLBMC. It is also sad & disrespectful of our Health minister is hearing the people’s cry but responding positively to their cry. Is is it bcuz the politicians can get preferable treatment when they fall sick?
Why would a person in need of an eye exam go to the hospital? There are private optometrists around the island who could give an appointment in less than a week.
Don’t we have community clinics that provide the sane services a hospital does? Why would anyone want to go to a hospital and expose themselves to illnesses rather than go to a clinic?
Hospitals are for the very sick and emergencies. Antiguans need to stop using the hospital for non emergency care. Utterly ridiculous.
Why would a person without proper knowledge make such a comment? You probably think an eye exam is just looking at a chart. (Sigh) People seek optometrists and opthalmologists for many reasons. You clearly don’t know anything about eye diseases/issues or the types of often very costly exams and surgeries. I hope you never have an optical emergency and can always afford private doctors. Apart from minor surgeries, such as cataract surgery, alot of eye surgeries require patients to go overseas. Get your fact right before you comment.
What about having to wait until January 2024 to see dr Osbourne. He’s booked until then. That’s what they say.
I went to make an appointment for an MRI Upon reaching the class to speak to the ladies the slim girl (blue polka dot dress and very neat ) got up and literally ran away from her desk to the back.
The other girl thicker told me wait until the other girl came back and she too left. To my surprise the girl I was standing infront of left to go pick up her daughter from St Johns Catholic Primary.
I was left at the window but the two Radiology girls and THE LADY LEFT TO GO PICK UP HER DAUGHTER LEAVING ME THERE STANDING.
Not good services there.
Unprofessional response. If the option of going private was key for many, then the hospital would be only used for specialist treatments as a location with no work for many of the nurses and doctors. That being said, if they are serious about the going private concept, then the government would need to stop taking medical benefits deductions from all employers and employees so that they can place those funds into private insurers and also propose policies to have the Insurance Companies copaying more often for more procedures than they are currently willing to do.
Also, if they wish to explore a government national insurance scheme, as is being proposed, they would need to ensure that they are targeting only the poorest and most vulnerable of society so that they do not directly compete with the insurance companies. It is well documented that government run operations are less efficient and sometimes less effective given the nature of how Public services operate. That being said, there needs to be a concerted effort and input by the government to liberate and elevate the sector.
It is equally necessary for rating systems to be introduced. Much like is sports, scorecards and statistics help to expose or enhance performance. If nurses and doctors are held accountable for their unpredictable, unprofessional behaviour, then the healthcare on offer will likely improve
Smh…..nurses have feelings and doctors to they are also facing trouble with health care… remember we are all working for a minimum wage which mr molwyn and his cabinet doesn’t seem to care even us in health care can’t even get a home because our salaries cannot cover a mortgage….let us deal with the problem where it starts…
To add to the water crisis, the deplorable roads, the poor electricity- highways lighting, poor community lighting ( criminals encourage) and utility posts falling over everywhere.
Our health system is also in a deplorable state .
The Poly clinics are not maintained. That state of the art poly clinic in All Saints is now closed due to the lack of maintenance( unimaginable). The same with the police station in that community. It was worked on as an election gimmick and from since left to the dogs , cats and rodents. The entire infrastructure of this country needs an overhaul. Walked up market street a few weeks ago and nothing tal deplorable so. I asked myself a wha them tourists come here for?
Person’s don’t have the financial support. If they have to get it done at the hospital so be it. Sometimes we struggle so hard that not even your own family members can help you. 95% of the times your help comes from a stranger.
I do not disagree that our only public hospital on island needs some work. However, what many people fail to realize is that there are different levels to healthcare (primary, secondary, tertiary and quartenary). Our main issue in this country is that our Primary care facilities (district clinics) are not operating the way they should. We’ve all heard the stories.
We recently opened 2 “world class” polyclinics and one of the two is essentially non-functional. The primary care facilities exist to take the burden from the secondary and tertiary level institutions. Because the clinics don’t function the way they should, the hospital is overwhelmed with everything to include appointments to see specialists and to get scans and other testing done. The hospital alone cannot support all of the citizens of Antigua and Barbuda (remember the Barbudans come over for services as well). And the hospital alone surely cannot be blamed for our healthcare crisis.
Our citizens need to have regular access to PRIMARY healthcare, and this will free up spaces at the hospital for patients who actually need SECONDARY healthcare.
There is no reason why someone needs to come to the hospital for an ear infection or the flu! We need to stop blaming the hospital for everything and blame the people that we elected. When y’all stop vote for colour, and start vote with some sense, then we will see some real change.
Why don’t PAHO take all that money from Bill Gates and invest in something besides useless injections for a now defunct variation of the flu?
Sadly folks, we voted Molwyn ‘AstraZeneca’ Joseph (who was behind the utter waste of money during the pandemic) and the ABLP back into office, how can we complain now?
A GREAT OPPORTUNITY MISSED!!!
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