Middle-class Jamaicans are under pressure from what is generally regarded as the high fees charged by surgeons, private hospitals and commercial banks.

As far as surgery and private hospitals are concerned, many patients have had to borrow money or sell their houses to pay medical expenses.There is a case of a citizen who had to go into hospital as a result of a stroke and the bill was $l million for doctor’s fees and $2 million in hospital fees. One of the most common surgeries in Jamaica is the removal of both breasts because of cancer. It cost a friend of mine $640,000 for the operation – $500,000 for surgery and $140,000 in hospital fees. In addition, she had to pay $400,000 for preparation for the surgery.

In a case of which I am well aware the cost of a biopsy of the sinus to diagnose whether the infection was cancerous, the total charge was $538,000 – surgical team of three, $250,000; hospital charge $288,000. The hospital charge included:$91,026 for nurses, drugs $41,134, disposables $41,715, laboratory $40,420, oxygen $l0,714, room and board $7,000. Fortunately, no cancerous tissues were diagnosed. The patient spent one day in the hospital, the Tony Thwaites Wing at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

The patient was satisfied with the care of the nurses and the surgical team, but the bill seemed high in any language. I had to remark to a senior member of staff at the hospital that the nurses there must be the best paid in the world in a developing country.

Surgery performed at that hospital can be done at public hospitals, but the waiting list is so long, especially since public hospital fees were abolished in 2008, that some people die before surgery can be performed. As the saying goes, it is not surgery that is bad but delayed surgery. There has been overcrowding at public hospitals and clinics as an increasing number of middle-class Jamaicans join the queues because of their deteriorating economic condition. If hospital fees are reintroduced at public hospitals this is going to be a blow to many people because they cannot afford to go to private hospitals.

Banks

As for commercial banks, some of their charges are shocking. For example, First Global Bank charged a customer $2,000 to prepare a tax withholding interest certificate for the tax office. The amount of interest involved was $58. The most astounding charge by First Global is $1,000 to withdraw from your current account without a leaf from your cheque book.

The Consumer Affairs Commission some time ago published on its website under the heading “Consumer Alert”, a study of charges by the banks to customers. The following are some of the charges: Certification of account balance: Bank of Nova Scotia – $1,025, First Caribbean International- $1,000, First Global $2,000, National Commercial Bank- $810, Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago $1,000.

Manager’s cheque:for Bank of Nova Scotia customers $350, others $870; First Caribbean International $260, First Global customers $300, others $800; National Commercial Bank, customers $240, others $720; Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago’s customers $200, others $650.

International Wire or Telegraphic Transfer: (Inward) Bank of Nova Scotia $2,400, First Caribbean International $1,550, First Global $2,348.46, National Commercial Bank $1,500, Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago $783. Outward: Bank of Nova Scotia $3,500, First Caribbean International $4,000, First Global $3,200; National Commercial Bank $2,500, Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago $4,179.71.

Early closure of account, that is, within 90 days of opening: Bank of Nova Scotia $l,015, First Caribbean International Bank $356, First Global $2,000, National Commercial Bank $800, Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago $750.

Deposit wallets, depending on sizes: Bank of Nova Scotia $5,445, $7,000, $8,920; First Caribbean International $3,500, $5,000 and $6,000; National Commercial Bank $3,950, $5,500, $6,100, Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago $4,500 and $5,500, First Global $4,000 and $5,000. These charges include 15 per cent GCT.

Interest rate on overdraft at the time of the survey late last year were Bank of Nova 21.50 per cent, First Caribbean International 24.75 to 27.75 per cent, First Global 50 per cent, National Commercial Bank 21.75 to 27.75 per cent. Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago 24 per cent.

National Commercial Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia between them made $21 billion profit last year.

Opposition makes mockery of Parliament

The People’s National Party last Tuesday made a mockery of the sacrosanct seat of Parliament that must have left the first two prime ministers produced by the party, Norman Washington Manley and Michael Manley, turning in their graves.

The 27 PNP MPs occupied the chamber without permission, “reporting for work” to protest what they said was the government’s reluctance to convene Parliament to debate the tax package implemented on January 1, although the government had already set January 19 for such a debate.

The action by the PNP members was a foolish exercise in futility and there was nothing to be gained from it. First of all, MPs were not summoned for a meeting, so the meeting was not properly constituted and the mace, the symbol of authority of Parliament, was not in place. Already there is not much respect by some MPs and senators as they often behave in an unruly manner. Let us have respect of the seat of Parliament.