A Jamaican American humanitarian, who has assisted a number of Jamaicans in accessing medical care overseas, is lamenting the difficulties faced in getting medical records of patients from the country’s health care facilities and wants Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton to intervene.

Shena Carty, founder of the Jamaican Madhouse Charity during an interview with the Jamaica Observer last Sunday, expressed frustration at the problem faced by her organisation in accessing the medical records of the sick persons who are being assisted, and the length of time that it takes for the records to be handed over.

According to Carty, the hospital’s failure to turn over the records sometimes result in her organisation having to use money from funds that have been collected for the patient’s health care to do a medical procedure, to make an assessment of the individual’s case.

“The process to get paperwork for students or for patients here … you don’t even try, you don’t even bother, it’s not going to happen,” she said.

Carty’s concern was raised in light of difficulties faced by relatives of Delmar Braham, a 19-year-old cancer patient who was being assisted by Carty to access health care overseas.

Braham, who had osteosarcoma which had manifested itself in a large tumour below his shoulder, died while he was at the Unites States Embassy on February 2, while trying to secure his visa to leave the island the following day for medical treatment.

“They never turned over his medical records, so when we tried to help and they said he had cancer in the shoulder and they saw something on his lungs, I said I wanted his paperwork because I have to know so I can make a good assessment. If I am going to try to help him they wouldn’t turn it over, why?” Carty asked.

“Why wouldn’t they turn over the paperwork? these are things that they would have already done.

“I actually had to use funds that we raised to have him go do his own X-ray so we could know because we were waiting so long on KPH (Kingston Public Hospital),” she said.

According to Carty, this has been a recurring issue which she has had to face each time she tries to help a sick and needy Jamaican. it causes unnecessary delay, which does not help the patient’s conditions.

“The hospital holds up a lot of stuff. Jamaica does not have the best health care and they don’t have a system that works and because they know that they do so many things that are wrong, whenever outsiders ask for information they have to prune it and go through it and take out whatever they messed up so it doesn’t get out there.

“It’s a fight to get their medical records. Even with Tianna (Ken)’s medical records, they were so wrong and when we get them there were stuff in there that did not need to be in there and stuff that the mother had recorded of herself was taken out of it,” she added.

Three-year-old Ken, who had been battling kidney cancer, died last September.

Carty said a similar struggle was faced in getting the medical records of Montego Bay resident Jermaine Barrett, who was assisted and went aboard to remove a huge tumour from his face. She said he was never provided with all of his records.

Meanwhile Dr Tufton, when contacted told the Sunday Observer: “Patient’s notes are confidential and are the property of the hospital. Patients can request medical report, investigation or other notes, as needed. But written permission is needed to release any information and there would normally be a next of kin who would give permission.”