MINISTER of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton is urging health professionals to filter out the criticisms they have been getting in recent times and diligently carry out their duties.

“I want to encourage the men and women of public health to continue to do their work and to ignore the noise. Jamaica appreciates their efforts; I certainly appreciate their efforts,” he said.

Dr Tufton, who was speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday at Jamaica House, said that over the past week there has been “a sustained and coordinated set of attacks on our civil servants and volunteers in the public health system by the Opposition party.

“I would like to publicly express my deep disappointment and indeed condemnation of these unwarranted attacks on public servants, on their reputation, on their professionalism, and on the institution that they represent,” he said.

Stressing that he does not intend to fall into the trap of responding to every “outlandish claim” made by the Opposition, Dr Tufton said the reality is, “they keep moving the goalposts. At first it was missing ventilators, then it became ventilators not working, then it became ICU [intensive care units] and high-dependency units (HDU)”.

“The goalpost keeps moving in order, frankly speaking, to continue their agenda of maligning and discrediting an entire system, including our civil servants,” he said.

Dr Tufton also noted that he has observed no less than five spokespersons and between eight and nine releases from the Opposition, among other things, calling for the resignation of the chief medical officer, the permanent secretary, the board chairs of Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) and North East Regional Health Authority (NERHA), citing spurious reasons for those claims.

“The Opposition has clearly decided that their best hope for political office is to pursue what I will classify as a carpet bombing strategy. In other words, throw as much mud as you can imagine, as you can conjure up in your imagination, and hope that something will stick. It is, in my view, a morally bankrupt strategy that should not be supported or encouraged,” he said.

“Burning down the house to improve your chances of controlling it is an indication of moral bankruptcy and does not serve the interests of the Jamaican people,” he added, noting that his sources have indicated that a new wave of attacks will come next week in the form of the circulation of pictures depicting the conditions in hospitals negatively.

Tufton argued that health professionals do not operate in a perfect system and that it is always a work in progress, noting that where there is a need to reflect, to assess, and to adjust, that will be done.

“I want to just identify with our public servants — both those who have volunteered to serve at the level of the boards and also with those who have given significant effort to the interest of the Jamaican people — we will remain focused on the work we have to do and ignore the noise. And I call on all well-thinking Jamaicans not to be gullible to these impressions and these purveyors of negativity and false narratives,” he said.

Turning to the recent happenings in the public health sphere which triggered the Opposition’s badgering, Dr Tufton said the Ministry of Health and Wellness, through regional health authorities, has investigated three deaths and prepared reports on the findings, which were submitted to Cabinet for their consideration on Monday.

Among them is the probe into the death of a premature newborn, Leonardo Blackstock, at May Pen Hospital in Clarendon about two weeks ago because there was no ventilator available.

In a statement on Wednesday, Dr Tufton said Cabinet was provided with a summary report by SRHA on the processes that were undertaken to manage young Leonardo, who died on June 11, 2024.

He said SRHA’s report details the efforts of the hospital to stabilise and manage the respiratory challenges that were experienced by baby Leonardo, and that the team followed the required protocol to have achieved a more positive outcome.

“While noting this tragedy and the effect that this death has caused on the family, members of the Cabinet expressed their concern related to the case and spoke to the team from the May Pen Hospital about what more can be done to improve the service delivery [so as] to minimise these negative outcomes,” Dr Tufton said.

He said Cabinet was advised by the senior medical officer of the hospital, as well as the chief medical officer, that while equipment to support service delivery is necessary, the need for more specialist staff — to include paediatric nurses, paediatric anaesthesiologists, among other technical staff — is critical for the management of the neonatal intensive care units.