THE health and wellness ministry’s Code Care programme has not hit the intended mark of 2,000 additional surgeries over the expected 12-month period, however it is believed to have created a “dent” in backlog across two regions — the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) and South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) — with the completion of 630 operations, excluding those done in sessions, since its launch last September.

Project Code Care was introduced to reduce the backlog of surgeries through the engagement of specialist nurses and support staff, in the form of nursing missions, to support the nursing cadre on short-term engagements of seven or 14 days.

The plan was to have nursing missions engaged utilising contacts within the Diaspora and other friendly support personnel.

Under the $1.19-billion project, wait time for elective surgeries should have been cut to less than 180 days while increasing the number of surgeries conducted over the same period by at least 80 per cent.

The programme, which was officially rolled out in western Jamaica with a $70-million price tag, was launched with the participation of four private health facilities — Hospiten Hospital, Montego Bay Hospital and Urology Centre, Baywest, and GWest — before it was expanded to the Corporate Area.

Andrews Memorial Hospital, Medical Associates Hospital, Heart Institute of the Caribbean, and Winchester Surgical and Medical Institute were then included in the programme.

The project was first announced in May 2021 by portfolio minister Dr Christopher Tufton, who stated that health professionals were being brought in from the Diaspora to assist with these surgeries. In addition, operating theatres were slated to be rehabilitated while more surgical supplies and tools were to be procured.

According to information provided to the Jamaica Observer by the health ministry, 399 surgeries have been carried out through the public-private partnerships.

In providing a further breakdown the health ministry stated that a total of 199 surgeries have been conducted by private facilities in SERHA “from inception to date”, while 280 have been done in the WRHA. These surgeries include unilateral inguinal hernia, bilateral inguinal hernia, hysterectomy, and transurethral resection of the prostate.

At the same time, the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) said the remaining 231 surgeries were carried out with the help of nursing missions which conducted 231 operations, and the Jamaica-Cuba eye care mission. The latter is said to be responsible for 96 laser procedures over the last month.

In responding to queries made by the Sunday Observer regarding the programme’s 12-month deadline, the health ministry stated that there have been some drawbacks in identifying patients for surgeries under Code Care.

“The MOHW is currently reviewing the initial target based on contextual conditions presented during the implementation period. The project had, in the first instance, made attempts to identify the actual pool of patients who could benefit from surgeries. This was done through a public survey where patients were allowed to call in and register their cases with the project,” the health ministry explained in its response.

“With a pool of names captured, the functionaries of the project would be required to ensure that these persons were registered as patients in the public facilities, medically available for surgery, and satisfy other criteria for the various modes of reducing the backlog — which includes sessional work, surgeries at private facilities, and operations done during missions,” said the MOHW.

Despite the programme hitting below 50 per cent of its target the ministry is confident that it has made a difference in the surgery backlog brought on by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“Code Care has successfully executed three nursing missions since its inception and is currently finalising arrangements for the next mission. There is a plan to execute at least two additional missions before the end of the calendar year,” MOHW said.

“The procurement process has commenced for the upgrade of six operating theatres at the Kingston Public Hospital. The programme is actively supporting the continuation of the Jamaica-Cuba eye care programme,” the ministry added.

Code Care, which was heavily frowned upon by medical doctors and Opposition spokesman on health Dr Morais Guy during its initial stages has, however, received nods of approval from two local medical doctors.

Despite that, one doctor told the Sunday Observer that more needs to be done to make the process much more beneficial to patients across the health regions and further reduce the country’s surgery backlogs.

“For urology, it helped a lot of patients but the problem is [that] we admit a lot of these patients every week to the clinics. Initially, I saw some reduction in the number of the catheters because we do resections of the prostate to get rid of the catheters and we saw a reduction, but currently I feel like the numbers are back to what they were because of the new patients that we added,” said the medical doctor who asked not to be named.

“So it helped the patients but in terms of the numbers, every week we are adding so it is not really making a significant impact. If we continue the programme I think it will have more of an impact on clinics and waiting time,” he suggested.

For the second doctor, who also requested anonymity, the number of operations done under the Code Care programme indicates that a dent has been made in the island’s backlog of surgeries. She quickly pointed out that the programme may yield great success if it is expanded to reach other patients.

“The only issue is: A lot more people need surgery as well and only a few conditions were selected to be done,” the doctor pointed out.