Dr Morais Guy, speaking in Parliament on Tuesday
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MP for Central St. Mary Dr Morais Guy
Opposition MP Dr Morais Guy is decrying what he terms a crisis of leadership in the health sector.
Dr Guy, speaking in the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, said the health sector has been plagued by neglect, waste, inefficiencies and a lack of meaningful accountability.
According to him, the sector is at a critical break point and in need of urgent attention.
He pressed the point with a declaration that "many Jamaicans visiting hospitals for needed or emergency care have spent days and weeks fighting to be accommodated with a bed; some have been forced to remain on stretchers in wheelchairs, on chairs and benches, and yet others have had to make cold ground their bed, even if not rock stone their pillow."
He said this situation was not confined to the covid-19 period, nor to any particular hospital, "urban or rural, whether Type A, B, or C."
He charged that the government has been primarily focused on public ralations, "rather than the actual delivery of service."
That, he claimed, "has pushed the sector to the brink of collapse."
Drill
Dr Guy also called for a thorough probe of the recent purchase of a surgical drill for Bustamante Hospital for a price tag in excess of $31 million.
The Opposition has been hammering the government over that purchase, charging that it is a gross over expenditure, albeit for a vital piece of surgical equipment, but one which it claims could have been procured for a much lower price.
"Thirty-one dollars is money that could have been used to purchase a drill and life-saving medication, repair broken equipment, or hire much-needed staff," Dr Guy said.
"We must question the value for money proposition and assert only that accountability is needed in the system," he declared.
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