THE EDITOR, Sir:
A LETTER by Ms. Nembhard in The Gleaner on Wednesday, October 8, 2003 clearly personalised a common problem the masses face when they visit the public hospitals for treatment.
Ms. Nembhard's experience reminded me of a recent incident at the Mandeville Public Hospital where a politician was admitted after being shot by gunmen. At first the doctors merely looked at him and rushed him off to succumb to a painful death. The politician's friends and relatives realizing that he was dying contacted a minister of government and he was immediately given the service he should have initially received.
After the minister's call to the hospital five previously unavailable or busy doctors became instantly attentive to this victim of crime. Now why should it take a minister's call for a seriously injured person to be treated with priority and given the urgency the treatment deserves? Why are doctors allowed to practise selective discrimination every day at our public hospitals?
Granted the hospitals are breaking at the seams, there is no excuse for emergency rooms to be left unmanned or for medical personnel to spend crucial minutes chit-chatting on the phone or among themselves while patients are dying in the waiting room. How long can we accept this kind of unprofessional behaviour at our public institutions? It is time that we demand more accountability from all our public servants. Far too often we have suffered the long indefinite waits at the hands of bad-attitude public servants (otherwise known as civil servants!)
I am, etc.,
R. TONY LEWARS
kaiker_99@yahoo.com
New Jersey
Via Go-Jamaica
