Tufton to lay out surgery backlog fix
Published:Tuesday | March 15, 2022 | 12:10 AM
A special programme is being developed by the Ministry of Health and Wellness to address a backlog of elective surgeries in public hospitals.
Increased hospitalisations of persons with COVID-19 during the various waves of the pandemic led to extensive delays in non-emergency operations.
During the recent deliberations of the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said that more details would be provided when he makes his contribution to the Sectoral Debate.
Opposition Spokesman on Health Dr Morais Guy quizzed his counterpart on information he received that surgeries were not being performed at the Kingston Public Hospital owing to malfunctioning anaesthetic machines.
Tufton said that a review was now being done at the regional authorities to determine what needs to be done to improve the infrastructure for greater reliability and for additional capacity.
He said that while that was being done, the ministry would also be examining the wait times for particular categories of elective surgeries.
“The intention is to categorise them and identify the ones with the longest wait and try to develop a priority programme around clearing up that backlog in the coming financial year,” Tufton said.
St Andrew South East Member of Parliament Julian Robinson sought an update on the rehabilitation of the Cornwall Regional Hospital.
More than five years later, the facility has missed critical deadlines for its phased rehabilitation after a noxious fumes crisis morphed into an awareness of deeper infrastructural defects.
The health minister conceded that “Cornwall Regional has been a humbling experience in many ways because we have gone through a process that has shown up a lot of weaknesses”.
Late last year, the ministry signed a $1.7-billion contract with construction firm M&M Jamaica Limited for the completion of the penultimate phase of rehabilitation work on the hospital.
At the signing in November, Tufton admitted that the rehabilitation of the Type A facility had been a “consistent source of discontent” and added that the repair of the hospital has taken various turns.
The health minister told his parliamentary colleagues during the Standing Finance Committee meeting that at some point, he would be willing to account for every dollar spent at the hospital.
“I am more than willing to sit at the table and be challenged on how ( sic) and to accept that we have had inefficiencies,” he told the committee.
Tufton said that the ministry was on a “good path now”, noting that there were inadequacies in terms of project management as it relates to the hospital build-out.
He said that an overseas firm was now engaged with all the requisite experience in hospital build-out. The company has become the quality assurance agency that acts as an oversight body to advise the ministry.
Further, he said a project management team is in place to work with the contractor.
“When you put those three layers together, particularly the quality assurance experts … we do believe you are going to see a much smoother flow in the recovery of Cornwall,” the health minister said.