Dear Editor,

Recently, I went to the Kingston Public Hospital with my uncle who needed urgent treatment for a medical condition. I waited nine hours before being attended to by a very stressed out medical doctor who seemed to have done more than 14 hours of work without much break. The nurse who also attended to us seemed equally overworked, and went on to ask me to get “medical things” for my uncle as the hospital was very short on a number of important supplies.

After losing my composure, because of so many hours of waiting, the overworked staff and the lack of basic medical supplies, I angrily moved my uncle to a private hospital at great expense to us as a family. Nevertheless, it was worth it, as the doctors there told me that had he not come to that hospital to get the necessary treatment for his condition I would have been planning his funeral.

After personally going back to the Kingston Public Hospital to get some information on my father’s condition, I was amazed to see Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson and a number of government officials enjoying hors d’oeuvres and cool drinks at a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commission elevators back into service after being out of service since last year. I believe it a disgrace that the minister of health thinks it prudent to waste scarce tax dollars on a lavish ribbon-cutting ceremony for getting elevators back into service! This while the hospital is short on sheets, syringes, surgical masks, antibiotics, and other basic medical supplies, and poor Jamaicans outside waiting hours for medical attention.

I am sure while driving in his air-conditioned SUV he would have seen scores of his fellow citizens sweating away outside trying to figure out how to get some help. The minister needs to check his priorities.

Sharon Bucknor

Kingston 6

sharonb288@hotmail.com