MALVERN, St Elizabeth — Clearly annoyed but instinctively polite, Health and Wellness Minister Chris Tufton told curious journalists here that he was intent on “moving forward” to resolve the many challenges in the health sector, following calls by the political Opposition for his resignation or dismissal.

Asked whether, on reflection, he would have acted differently on hearing news in August that 12 newborns had died from bacterial infections at the maternity facility Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH) in July, Tufton appeared to suggest that he would not dwell on the past.

“We live in a democracy where everyone is entitled to an opinion and there are always going to be views for and against any position taken,” Tufton told journalists last Thursday following a contract-signing ceremony for upgrades to the Malvern and New Market health centres.

“… I reflect on some of those [criticisms] when they come up because I am human like everybody else and it would be unwise not to, but I don’t live in a kind of suspended animation around decisions of the past; what you do is assess them,” the health and wellness minister added.

Tufton has come under sustained attack, especially from the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) for alleged dereliction of duty in not promptly informing the country, the prime minister and Cabinet about the crisis at VJH on hearing about it in late August. The news was eventually broken by Nationwide News Network, which had initially reported “dozens” of babies dead.

Reports since suggest nine died in July and a few others in August and September.

In Parliament and in response to queries from the media, Tufton said he and his health team kept quiet on the issue because of a desire to avoid panic and hysteria. Instead, he said, the focus was to resolve the problem which, he claimed, was successfully done.

In Malvern, Tufton was critical of the PNP for seeking political gain from the controversy and for organising protest demonstrations in recent days.

“I think it’s a bad idea to politicise the issue. I really do,” said Tufton.

“And this business of having half-a-dozen people around the country in demonstrations, I don’t know what purpose it serves but that’s their right. It’s a free country…,” he said.

In calling for Tufton’s ouster, critics have pointed to what they suggest was a precedent set in 2015 under the PNP administration of Portia Simpson Miller when then health minister Fenton Ferguson lost his job following multiple deaths from bacterial infection.

But Tufton has insisted that the circumstances were different then and that “context” should be taken into consideration.

“So often … there is an assessment of things without context and I think there is a danger in that, and a lot of the commentary has less context than it ought to have…,” Tufton told journalists in Malvern.

He argued that in the most recent case of bacterial infection affecting newborns, it was “indisputable” that problems were discovered, and the health team “moved in a very deliberate way and solved the problems…”

Said he: “For me, that is the primary issue. And I think we have to be careful that we don’t get distracted by the secondary issue, and the primary issue is that we solved a problem and that is what makes me satisfied with the situation. If we had a prolonged situation beyond what was reasonable, that would be a greater concern to me.”

Pointing to renovations and improvements to health infrastructure in St Elizabeth and across the country, as well as strategies developed by him during six years as minister to improve health care, Tufton told journalists that his work spoke for itself.

Earlier, during the contract signing ceremony, Tufton told his audience that “I don’t get too involved in the noise that is around us. This world is full of distraction and noise, I focus on the work, that is what it’s all about.”

“… the team, and by extension Government, we review as we go along. We have to adjust, correct, learn from any missteps… But we are resolute in the mission that we have set ourselves, which is to make Jamaica a better place than we found it. In public health that is my mantra. Whatever anybody else says, I want a conclusion around my legacy and the legacy of this Administration, that public health was or is better off than the way it was found.”

He has consistently argued that inadequate personnel and material resources in personnel in the public health system were largely at fault for the breakdown at the VJH.

Asked by journalists whether there was need for a rethink of a free health-care policy implemented by the Bruce Golding-led JLP Government of 15 years ago, Tufton said that while no one should be turned away because of inability to pay, a reassessment was unavoidable.

That, he recalled, was the reason economist Dr Damien King was asked earlier this year to do a study on costs and funding for the sector. The results of that study are being awaited.

“I think we have to confront, and we are trying now to confront sustainable financing for health,” Tufton said. “… I am of the fundamental belief that nobody should be denied based on ability to pay. It would be an uncaring society to deny people health care because they can’t afford it … [However] beyond that the truth is that there are people who can afford to contribute … The problem is how do you deal with that means testing to determine who can and who can’t? And that’s always the big challenge because you don’t want to make the mistake of denying people who genuinely can’t. … I tasked Dr Damien King to review the current model for public health and sustainable expenditure component and let us look to see what exists globally,” he added.

The minister wondered if a methodology could be developed in the Jamaican context which could be used for discussions “with our mulitilateral partners, Government, everybody, … to see what the changing face of public health, in terms of financing, has to look like going forward”.

Said Tufton: “I think it’s a very necessary discussion that has to take place because it [funding of the health sector] is not sustainable under the current model.”

Renovation and expansion of the ageing, run-down, health centre in Malvern is to cost upwards of $32 million. Work is expected to be completed within six months. Operations at that facility had to be moved to rented premises two years ago because of insect infestation and other problems.

At New Market in north-western St Elizabeth, work costing $4.2 million will involve tiling and perimeter fencing and is expected to be completed within a month.

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