GOVERNMENT must come out and explain the circumstances behind the suspension of the island’s lone paediatric cardiologist Dr Richard Ishmael.
This is especially so, said Opposition Senator Kerrie Symmonds, because the board of management at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) has remained silent on the issue, opting instead to “put its tail between its legs.”
In a fiery speech in the Upper Chamber yesterday, Symmonds said the management at the island’s premier health care institution had come under scrutiny and there was a need for “clarity”, particularly on an issue that concerned people’s lives.
Speaking during debate on the Medical Profession Bill, which was passed yesterday evening, Symmond ssaid there was “much merit” to the Bill, adding that it would get his support though it was coming a few years late.
However, he said that there was a “fierce urgency” that Government address the issue of the suspension of Ishmael.
“Management of medical profession is also a legal issue and I think we have to deal with it at some stage.
“Right now we have the unfortunate situation where there needs to be greater clarity with regard to management policies, especially at the island’s premier institution,” he said.
He added that the island’s lone [paediatric] cardiogist was now challenging the QEH (in the law courts) to allow him to practise in circumstances “where he feels he has been unfairly suspended”.
The court action, he said, brought into question the transparency of the management process, yet the board had remained silent on the issue.
As such, he said the time had come for Government to speak out and even “intervene” to put the public’s mind at rest.
Government should not continue to “say nothing” and let the issue of management at the QEH “spiral out of control”, because the board “chooses to put its tail between its legs and not say anything.”
Referring to the letter written by Ishmael, which resulted in the suspension (that has now been lifted), Symmonds said it was one of the “best kept secrets in the island”. (CG)
