In the past few weeks some of the major problems facing Barbados in relation to our critical health care system have come to the surface once again as Government continues to be challenged by problems that have been in existence for many, many years.
But there comes a point in time when as a serious people we have to ask ourselves whether we are interested in resolving the difficulties we face as a nation or whether we are prepared to accept deteriorating circumstances as part of the norm?
I ask this question against the backdrop that the issues pertaining to health care in this country are way too serious for anyone to allow politics to dictate what sort of interventions are required to get our health system up and functioning in a manner that redounds to the kinds of benefits we all so badly desire.
You see, over the past years, the cost of public health care has been escalating and successive governments have been trying to find sustainable solutions to financing this important sector. However, to date, no real solution has been found. Almost every week in the news there is a problem with shortage of vital drugs and basic medical supplies at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and while the situations at the district hospitals are not so readily publicised, they too experience chronic shortages of essential supplies as well.
Undeniably, it is fair to argue that a combination of factors has contributed to our current health care challenges. These factors include poor management and a lack of critical resources (human resource personnel including adequately trained and experienced specialists and shortage of nurses and doctors, lack of basic medical supplies, and deficiencies in relation to vital pieces of equipment). And all of these problems have been exacerbated by the economic crisis facing the country.
Indeed, the economic situation facing Barbados has resulted in job losses for thousands of persons and reduced income for many others. These factors have conspired to ensure that more and more Barbadians are forced to seek medical assistance through the public health care system. This increase in demand has placed further strain on the already scarce resources of the QEH and by extension other public facilities.
By whatever standards used to evaluate public health care in Barbados, it should become clear to all and sundry that this vital component of our socio-economic development is under significant threat and carefully crafted solutions are required to ensure the sustainability of our public health care system. Given the critical nature of health care, Government and the Opposition have a duty to mend fences and come together in the search for permanent solutions. For the records, the Opposition has already signalled its intentions to work with the Government in search of such solutions.
Since the root of many of the problems facing the QEH and other health care institutions in Barbados is inadequate financing, the major task to be undertaken by our leaders should be a determination as to how to finance health care in this country. Our existing modus operandi which is based almost wholly on financing from the consolidated fund has to be revisited and alternative arrangements must be put in place.
In short, if we continue along our current path, it would be extremely difficult to imagine how we can ever sustain the level and quality of health care required by the population. It is therefore the right time for us to act without politics as usual in order to save our public health care system that has served us so well for so long.
