The main gate to the new emergency room wing at the Falmouth General Hospital. Although completed earlier this year, the facility remains unopened and without equipment. - photo by Mark Titus

The Gleaner continues its investigation of the island's health sector which is almost into one year since the abolition of user fees in public hospitals.

WESTERN BUREAU:

Protracted waiting periods seem to be the main concern of patients who use public hospitals within the jurisdiction of the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA).

But the WRHA, which comprises the parishes of Westmoreland, Hanover St James and Trelawny, is congratulating itself for being on par with First-World countries.

"Our staff has been very patient and committed," regional technical director of the WRHA, Alexander Konstantinov, said.

"When I spoke with medical doctors in Florida recently, they said it could take six to eight hours wait time to see a doctor and two to four months to see a specialist. For the WRHA, we are doing far better at this time," he said.

Konstantinov said the patient traffic in the health service in the region has increased by 15 to 32 per cent since the abolition of user fees.

When The Gleaner visited the Falmouth General Hospital in Trelawny on Thursday afternoon, things seemed to be normal in the reception area.

However, one farmer from Deeside in the parish who had accompanied a friend complained that for the second time they had to endure a tedious wait at the hospital's pharmacy.

"Dem take too long here," he complained.

Another Trelawny man, a 72-year-old patient suffering from a prostate-related illness, told The Gleaner that he had to wait for four hours to see the doctor.

Tardy staff

The man, who uses a wheelchair, said the administrative staff were to blame for the delays because they were tardy.

It was a similar story at the Cornwall Regional Hospital's Orthopaedic Unit. One woman who had travelled from neigh-bouring Trelawny with her daughter, whose broken arm was still in a cast, said she had to be undergoing long waiting periods ever since she started visiting in December.

"Sometimes, you wait until you wait out of patience," she said.

However, another St James woman, who said she had been paying weekly visits to the hospital, told The Gleaner that the situation varies.

"You get through fast when you have more than one doctor working," she said.

But Konstantinov said that in a majority of instances, the delays at the Cornwall Regional Hospital were usually because of life-threatening cases which have to be given priority.

At the Noel Holmes Hospital in Lucea, one auxiliary worker at the hospital said he had observed a large increase in the number of patients turning up at the hospital since user fees were abolished.

"It look like all who did sick bad and neva have money start come up here now. It hard pon di hospital staff, but dem haffi do de work still because dem want dem pay at month end."

However, other users of the hospital said they were satisfied and that they had seen no decline in the service since the Government's abolition of the user fees.

In the meantime, Konstantinov said the WRHA would have to improve its communication with the general public to ensure that persons better understand the prevailing circumstances, and improve the hospital-patient relationship.

The Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, St James. - file

Follow The Gleaner's coverage of the state of the country's health sector.