Westmoreland Eastern will get mobile ambulance service under a new PNP government, says Campbell

WESTERN BUREAU:

Dr Dayton Campbell, general secretary of the People’s National Party (PNP), says that should his party form the next government, he will be pushing to introduce a mobile ambulance service to provide basic healthcare to elderly residents in Westmoreland Eastern, where he is seeking to become the member of parliament.

Campbell, who was speaking at the party’s parish meeting in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland recently, says urgent intervention is needed to improve access to healthcare for vulnerable residents in remote communities.“Too often we forget about our elderly once the elections are over,” said Campbell. “We plan to put a mobile clinic on the road that will go from district to district checking on the people, especially our seniors, and making sure they are cared for.”

According to Campbell, the proposed unit, which he labelled as the Eastern Westmoreland Mobile Clinic, would be used to deliver services such as medical checkups, prescription assistance, National Health Fund enrolment, and routine follow-ups for shut-ins and elderly persons who are unable to travel to health centres.

Campbell’s proposal comes in response to longstanding complaints from residents in rural Westmoreland about the difficulty accessing health services, particularly outside of Savanna-la-Mar.

Currently, many communities, including Darliston, Bethel Town, and Content, are without 24-hour health services. The nearest public hospital is the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital, which is under strain and often overcrowded.

“If something goes wrong at night, many persons don’t have a reliable way to get to the hospital or even to see a doctor,” said Campbell. He noted that the mobile unit would be equipped to respond to non-emergency medical concerns.

Campbell said that plans are in the works to improve existing health centres in the constituency, which hopefully will attract medical professionals to rural areas through better working conditions and incentives.

Several residents who were in attendance at the meeting welcomed the proposal, saying it addresses a critical gap in service delivery for elderly and low-income constituents.

“Sometimes yuh can’t even get a blood pressure check unless yuh go into Sav,” said one female attendee who was wearing a T’ shirt bearing the image of Dr Campbell. “If dem really put something like this in place, it would help nuff people.”

Campbell, a medical doctor by profession, also called for better diagnostic services at the hospital level, including the availability of CT scans.

While not giving a timeline as to how soon the mobile ambulance service would be implemented, Campbell said it would be prioritised by a new PNP administration, with funding support to be explored through partnerships with the Ministry of Health and international donors.