FROM PILFERING in the washrooms of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) to patients hoarding medication and landowners leaving it to the state to debush their properties, Barbadians are doing heavy damage to the national health budget.
Minister of Health Donville Inniss made this charge yesterday.
He said it all translated into an abuse of public funding which could be better spent on helping people truly in need.
He made the comments while delivering the weekly lecture at the Democratic Labour Party’s (DLP) Belleville, St Michael headquarters.
Inniss told the audience that successes had been reported in every area of public health care since the DLP came to power in January 2008 but abuses of some systems and a lack of concern continued to be major sources of worry.
He complained that while Government was paying pharmacies $1 million a month to dispense medicines under the Barbados Drugs Service, some patients were abusing the programme by “hoarding medication” and “doctor-shopping” or moving from one physician to another for diagnosis and a new set of medication.
In both cases, patients would have accumulated much more of the Government-subsidised medication than they would have needed.
Inniss said pilfering was also a problem at some institutions.
While strides had been made in environmental health care, a major worry remained the threat posed by unoccupied lots that could be breeding grounds for mosquitoes and rodents, Inniss said.
Government was spending about $800 000 yearly to clean up these and other lots to reduce the dengue and leptospirosis threats, while some of the owners drove luxury cars and went overseas two or three times a year to shop, he complained.
Government usually bills the landlords to recover these cost.
He told the gathering: “My focus, and the commitment of this Government, is to contain costs. We will not always be able to reduce the cost but we want to ensure that if there are increases they are justifiable.
“It cannot be always about going back to taxpayers and saying give me more money.
“My commitment to you as Minister of Health is to ensure that we eliminate the wastage, the duplication and all the inefficiencies in the public health care system so that whatever demands are placed on the Minister of Finance or you as taxpayers will be justified . . .”
