Dawes urges action on surgery disruptions at Kingston public hospitals

Opposition spokesman on health and wellness Dr. Alfred Dawes is pressing the Ministry of Health to move urgently on what he describes as a serious breakdown in surgical services at two of Jamaica’s major public hospitals.

Dawes said the latest shutdown reflects a pattern he believes the ministry has allowed to continue. He argued that operations are again being called off, medical missions that could save lives are being placed at risk, and patients and hospital workers are once more carrying the burden.

According to Dawes, the situation is not a new one. He said that when he warned last year about problems affecting theatres at Bustamante, the ministry’s response amounted to public relations rather than a real repair.

He also referred to earlier mould concerns at Kingston Public Hospital, saying the response then was to paint over the problem, issue a public statement for the evening news, and present the matter as resolved. Dawes said the renewed contamination of the same theatres shows the issue was never properly fixed, leaving patients to suffer again.