Opposition Spokesman on Health, Dr. Ken Baugh says the public health sector is collapsing.
Dr. Baugh’s comment comes on the heels of yesterday’s industrial action by nurses at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital.
The nurses refused to work because there was no water at the facility.
Dr. Baugh says in light of the current drought affecting the country, the Ministers of Health and Water need an urgent plan to avoid a recurrence of the disruption in the health sector.
The health sector has been plagued by several problems in recent weeks.
Those problems, which include the non or short payment of emoluments, sparked protest action by health professionals at the Cornwall Regional Hospital last week.
Dr. Baugh says the incident at the Jubilee Hospital is further proof of the devastating effect that the government’s austerity programme is having on the health sector.
Persons visiting the Jubilee Hospital were this morning encouraged to bring drinking water for their relatives, in order to alleviate the demand on the dwindling supplies at the facility.
The South East Regional Health Authority, SERHA, says the water shortage was due mainly to the drought affecting the island.
But Dr. Buagh says its unfathomable how an emergency service could’ve been hampered in this manner, without a contingency plan being put in place.
According to Dr. Baugh, the NWC and the Ministers of Health and Water must design a plan to effectively address the issue of water supply at the two major hospitals in downtown Kingston.
