Trying to pen this week’s article was difficult. Truthfully, I was not sure I could get past my sadness and frustration, which have been building over the past several weeks due to having to interface with directly and interceding on behalf of constituents who our public health system has blighted.

Some of the experiences and names I have highlighted before in this space, like Lorna’s daughter. Others, I have chosen to keep quiet. Needless to say, all of them have been serious and concerned about the treatment from St Ann’s Bay Hospital to individuals who do not have the means or the money to seek private health care. However, I will not remain silent this time because what happened was negligence in the care and protection of a young woman.

Three weeks ago, a constituency member called me at approximately 6:00 am. She was crying uncontrollably. When I finally got her to calm down to find out what was wrong, she said she was asking for my urgent assistance to help her get to someone who could give her the results of a biopsy and blood test she did in March of this year.

This young woman had been having abdominal pain since January 2023 so she went to St Ann’s Bay Hospital on gynaecological clinic day in March. She saw a doctor, who did a cervix biopsy and took some blood for testing, all based on his examination of her. He told her she should also have an MRI and CT scan done before she came back to see him. Of course, those would have to be done privately because the hospital lacked the technology.

She relayed that she kept calling the hospital to find out about the results, and the only response given was that they could not find them. Furthermore, when she returned to the doctor in May, he said he could not get any information regarding her blood work or the results of her cervical biopsy. One might want to ask whether the blood and specimens of her cervix even made it to a lab in the first place or did they lose the results?

Worse, up to that point, she had not got the MRI or CT scan as machines offered by the private care providers were not working, and they told her she would have to journey to Kingston.

Come July, she was writhing in pain, losing copious amounts of blood, and having a hard time breathing, which is when she bravely decided to call me and tell me what was happening and ask for my help with the hospital.

I told her to forget St Ann’s Bay Hospital and to come to Kingston so I could take her to a private doctor, and we would run the tests all over again. Enter Dr Michael Abrahams, who saw her immediately on Saturday, July 22, 2022. He did the biopsy in his office, called the lab, and sat with us, patiently explaining the diagnosis possibilities. She sobbed, and we both hugged and calmed her.

On Monday, we ensured that she finally did the MRI, CT scan, and blood tests privately in Kingston. Since the doctor requested those at St Ann’s Bay Hospital the results would have to go back there.

When she went to collect the results, once again, the personnel at the hospital told her they could not find her results. This time she told them she would have her Member of Parliament call the hospital and get involved, and the results were found. At that point I asked her to photograph the results to send them to Dr Abrahams.

Based on the findings, I told her to leave the premises with the envelope and bring them back in, as she would now need a referral letter for a gynae oncologist.

Thankfully we were successful in getting an urgent appointment with Dr Matthew Taylor. She had to be admitted to the University Hospital of the West Indies for blood transfusions the day after her consultation, as she needed immediate chemotherapy for advanced cervical cancer.

All of this happened within the space of four weeks. Now is not the time to ask why she never came to me earlier. The fact is she came, and more importantly that she had someone she could come to.

What if she was still waiting on St Ann’s Bay Hospital to find her results or ask them to redo her biopsy and blood work?

There’s no denying that our public health system is in crisis.

I have seen many people fall through the cracks of it, waiting for months for urgent treatment and surgeries without anyone to help them. Worse, when they actually get a date for the surgery they often have to provide some of the hardware needed, especially in the case of orthopaedic surgeries.

I have also watched patients discharged from St Ann’s Bay Hospital walk with their towels, basins, and other household items they must bring for their stay; it is heart-rending because the hospital lacks basic amenities for patients in care.

The adage is usually that your health is wealth, but, indeed, in Jamaica, your wealth determines your health. If our public health fails you, and you’re sick without adequate money, your chances are slim, as private care could wipe out your little savings on diagnostic care, treatment, and medication. Worse, you could get sicker or die waiting on surgery from public facilities or be misdiagnosed and become a ‘sitting duck’ because of the lack of resources to quickly do all the proper tests. Or, as in this woman’s case, have her test results lost.

It’s time we honestly examine what we offer when we say “free health care” and determine the quality and sustainability of the same.

I have suggested many times that we enter into medical tourism to aid in subsidising our public health-care sector or, perhaps, to explore other avenues to assist in funding.

Whereas the Ministry of Health and Wellness has made strides in campaigns on preventative measures, much more is necessary to better develop the infrastructural state and patient care with our public hospitals.