( l - r ) Spencer, Dobson

PERSONS FEARING they may again be asked to pay user fees in public hospitals, especially in these financially turbulent times, need not worry. The Ministry of Health and Environment says it has no intention of reversing the no-user-fee policy it implemented in April 2008.

"The implementation activities for the abolition of fees in public-health facilities will continue in earnest," Rowena Palmer, acting public-relations manager at the ministry told The Gleaner on Wednesday.

However, cognisant of the challenges to operate an efficent health service, Palmer urged patience from the patients. "Patience on their part is very important and respect for those who are providing care," Palmer stated.

No evidence

Meanwhile, David Dobson, head of the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), said there was no evidence to support the claim that restoring user fees in hospitals is the antidote for the ills currently buffeting the public-health system.

"I have nothing to support that view," said Dobson.

However, he believes Jamaicans taking better care of their health would prove a more potent remedy for the ailing sector than a reversal of the Government's decision to abolish user fees.

"The bottom line is persons with chronic illnesses can take better care of themselves and be more compliant with their visits and prescribed medications to avoid hospitalisation. That is the main one," Dobson stated.

His views contrasts with those of the Opposition People's National Party (PNP). Just last Friday, the PNP issued a release expressing its concern that the "Government's policy of removing user fees charged at hospitals is placing the country's health-care system under immense pressure and may push it to the brink of collapse".

In the release, Opposition Spokesman on Health, Dr Fenton Ferguson, urged Health Minister Rudyard Spencer "to conduct an urgent review of the no-user-fee policy and determine an alternative plan, given the problems currently plaguing the system".

Overcrowding

In a Ministry of Health release last week, Spencer appealed to citizens seeking health care to do so at facilities in their community or parish to prevent the overcrowding now affecting operations at some public hospitals.

Spencer added: "The charge-free access to health services afforded by the abolition of fees should not be viewed as a reason to overcrowd some facilities while others go underutilised."

Meanwhile, Dobson at the KPH urged Jamaicans to take "more responsibility for their health" and encouraged citizens to make good use of the health services offered by the primary-care facilities, which essentially deal with early detection and early intervention. Prevention, he argued, is better than cure.

tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com

The Gleaner's investigation of the country's health sector continues.