TOO?MUCH?EMPHASIS has been placed on tertiary health care and not enough on primary health care, says Minister of Health Donville Inniss.
He was speaking to the media during the Thanksgiving Church Service to commence the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Winston Scott Polyclinic, at the Bethel Methodist Church yesterday.
The minister said that his ministry was currently improving on the range of services offered at the island’s polyclinics in order to build a thorough and sustainable health care system.
Inniss indicated that a diagnostic radiography service was needed to facilitate the country’s primary health care system, as it was “no secret that the average person who sought medical attention at polyclinics and required an X-ray” had to endure a long process and wait at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).
“We cannot bury our heads in the sand; these [are] harsh realities Barbadians face every day. You go to the polyclinic and the doctors and nurses there do their very best.
They may refer you for an X-ray and then you have to make your way to the QEH and oftentimes wait long hours.
“Sometimes [the patient has to wait] a week or two for an appointment or to get an X-ray done. And then there is the waiting time for the doctor at the polyclinic to get that result back and those long times serve to compromise patient care,” he said. (AH)
