JMDA laments bad conditions in Public Hospitals - How MOH Audit will reveal Doctors and Pharmacists stealing Supplies

Looks like the Jamaican Health Sector is in a bad state indeed!

So much so that its alledged that Jamaican Doctors have to be using Scandal Bags in lieu of Aprons to do surgical procedures according to the article “Hospital Scandal! Doctors Use Plastic Bags, Called Scandal, As Aprons In ”, published May 2, 2015 by Gary Spaulding, The Jamaica Gleaner.  

So says President of the JMDA (Jamaica Medical Doctors' Association) Dr Alfred Dawes in a PowerPoint presentation at a press conference on Friday May 1^st 2015 highlighting the lack of certain Medical Supplies.

Not only that, they also requested that Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson tackle the Permanent Secretary Dr Kevin Harvey, as apparently he wasn't telling them what was going on in terms of the state of Supplies. 

According to Dr Alfred Dawes, not only are they short on everything from surgical masks, anti-bacterial soap and a Medical tubes to drain blood, but the facilities also appears to have degraded severely.

The Operating Theatre doors are unable to be sealed from external environmental contaminants and high-intensity slit lamps are not working and fungi apparently growing all over the KPH and other Public Hospitals.

The state of the Public Hospital is symbolic of the Jamaican Health Sector as a whole; slowly decaying. Meanwhile the Doctors are restive!

JMDA laments deplorable conditions in Public Hospitals - MOH Audit may reveal Medical Doctors stealing Supplies for Private Practice

Dr Alfred Dawes also complained about the shift system, which is implemented would result in them receiving a 60% cut in their current wages, as they've had to endure five (5) consecutive years of wage freeze.

Or put another way, they're in the same boat as the Teachers, who are currently negotiating for a pay increase after rejecting the 5% offer on the negotiating table as noted in the article “Teachers To Continue Protest As Gov't Lingers On A Wage Deal”, published Sunday May 10, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner and “Teachers protest 5% wage offer ”, published Friday, May 01, 2015, the Jamaica Observer.   

Also, like the Teachers, the JMDA was being made to look to be the cause of the problems in the Health Sector, which based on the video above, might suggest that they are not even prepared to deal with another outbreak of Chikungunya or possible Ebola, if it were to come to Jamaica.

There might be some truth to this, but their protest may all be for naught.

This as four (4) days later on Power 106FM’s Cliff Hughes Online Radio Program, President of the JMDA Dr Alfred Dawes admitted that the shortages to some extent may be due to theft of Medical Supplies by Medical Doctors as reported in the article “Doctors Could Be Stealing Supplies From The Public System For Private Use ”, published Monday May 4, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.

In Jamaica, many Doctors who work in the Public Sector also working in the Private Sector or have their own Private Practice. So this is not only possible, but even I myself have suspected this, based on my short work stint at AREL Jamaica Ltd, a company that specializes in installing Medical Equiptment in Private and Public Hospitals.

Doctors and Pharmacists Stealing Medical Supplies from Public Hospitals - MOH Audit will follow the Trail to Illegal Pharmacies Downtown

This is not a strange thing to admit to, as many Medical Doctor in the Public Sector, due to the Wage freeze, may be working on the side in the Private Sector to make ends meet i.e. keep up with Car payments, Food payments and Rent for their expensive Apartments. But as Doctors in a Private Practice, the Medical equiptment and Supplies are usually very expensive to purchase and ship down to Jamaica.

Thus, the temptation to steal the Supplies from the Public Sector becomes very easy, as they have access to them at their work places such as the KPH. Because they are Doctors and supposedly highly-educated people, it usually means that they can easily steal these Supplies and no-one would ask questions.

Many Doctors, who see themselves as being unpaid, may possibly see their actions as justified and possibly many of their fellow Doctors may be complicit in the theft of Medical Equiptment.

It may also explain why a lot of expired Medical Supplies end up downtown being sold by scammers as explained in the article “Scammers Turn To Medicine! - Conmen Filling Prescriptions At A Fraction Of The Cost”, published Sunday April 12, 2015 by Ryon Jones, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

These scammers may possibly be aligned with the Medical Doctors and Pharmacists who sell them expired Medical products and medicines. Kingstonians purchase these expired Medical products and medicines in the same manner that they purchase expired food.

This may be the same gang that was operating an illegal pharmacy in the Downtown area of Kingston and Spanish Town Road back in 2005, possibly with the help of Private Pharmacists as noted in the article “Back door pharmacies”, published Sunday, August 14, 2005, the Jamaica Observer.

Albeit pharmacists and Doctors are not the same people and hard evidence connecting Doctors and Pharmacists to these illegal Supplies is lacking, the Power 106FM’s Cliff Hughes Online Radio Program interview by  President of the JMDA Dr Alfred Dawes casts a light onto this suspicious practice once more.

Thus, it is no surprise that in response, the Minister of Health, in a bid to determine what really happening with the Medicals Supplies in the Private Hospitals as well as expired Medical products and medicines, has decided to conduct a Comprehensive Resource Audit of the Public Health Sector to find out what's shakin' down as reported in the article “Ferguson Orders Comprehensive Resource Audit Of Major Health Facilities”, published Tuesday May 5, 2015,  The Jamaica Gleaner.

Perhaps, in the process of doing the Audit, the problems being highlighted by the President of the JMDA Dr Alfred Dawes will be addressed. It may also allow the Jamaica Police to come in and investigate the possible link between Doctors, Pharmacists and the Illegal Pharmaceutical Trade in Downtown Kingston and Spanish Town.