A “PERMANENT SOLUTION” to the Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital’s (QEH) periodic shortage of drugs and other supplies could be in place in the next two to three weeks.
Minister of Health John Boyce made the disclosure yesterday after a tour of the island’s premier health care institution following a decision on Friday by doctors to handle only emergency medical cases because of a shortage of supplies.
Boyce told a media conference after the tour, which included the Accident & Emergency Department, the asthma bay, Ward C10 and the Medical Intensive Care Unit, that Government was “negotiating through the Ministry of Finance” to execute a loan which would address the issue of outstanding payments to the hospital’s suppliers.
Boyce did not specify the size of the loan but last August, chief executive officer of the QEH, Dr Dexter James, said that while the institution had been able to satisfy some of its debts to suppliers through the injection of $22 million by Government, debt to pharmaceutical suppliers and other creditors still stood at about $30 million.
Please read the full story in today’s Sunday Sun, or in the eNATION edition.
