IF the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) board has its way, Barbadians could soon be paying for public health care, says former Minister of Health Dr Jerome Walcott.
Speaking yesterday at a Barbados Labour Party (BLP) St James South branch meeting at West Terrace Primary School, Walcott said the QEH was on a cost recovery programme and among its board’s proposal was for people to be charged an administrative fee for specified services.
He said the proposal was contained in a draft QEH document entitled Programme Budget Document For The Financial Year 2011-2012.
Referring to the document, Walcott read: “. . . Tremendous cost recovery potential can be realised through the introduction of a small administrative fee for selected services such as laboratory testing, filling of prescriptions, diagnostic imaging and out-patient services . . . .”
He added the proposal would bring further financial burden to the most vulnerable in society.
He said despite statements from Government that things were on the improve at the QEH, the board’s document suggested that this was not really the situation.
Walcott said the board had identified challenges faced by the QEH that included: weak talent management resulting in attrition, low staff morale and low levels of enthusiasm; weak project management and execution; unacceptable working conditions; unresponsive support services; poor inventory and materials management process; instability of governance and leadership; and gross inadequacy of financial resources for basic medical supplies.
But last night Minister of Health Donville Inniss said he was not aware of the document to which Walcott referred. He said the QEH was not a fee-paying institution for public patients and therefore there could be no money that they would be paying. However, he said the board had the authority to look at fees related to private patients.
He added it was irresponsible for Walcott to make public the details of any draft document on which no final decision had been made and which had not reached him.
He said if any concerns were raised in the document to which Walcott referred, it was in keeping with his policy that nothing should be hidden under the carpet and that the only way to bring meaningful change to any situation was to identify “any and all problems” and have them dealt with.
Inniss said the previous administration had buried its collective head in the sand on issues related to the QEH and had allowed them to fester. This, he noted, would not be the way to seek to provide the best possible health care for Barbadians.
He invited Walcott to tour the QEH with him as he was positive he would be unable to recognise it from the period when he was the Minister of Health.
