OPPOSITION spokesman on health Dr Alfred Dawes has called on the Government to take immediate steps to improve conditions at Annotto Bay Hospital in St Mary.

“I am disappointed and quite frankly and hurt [that] this hospital, which used to be the beacon of advanced surgery in Jamaica, has been allowed to deteriorate to the point where they can no longer care for surgical patients the way they used to 10 years ago,” Dawes said during a tour of the hospital with the People’s National Party’s (PNP) caretaker for St Mary South Eastern Christopher Brown and Councillor Levan Freeman (PNP, Belfield Division) on Monday.

Dawes pointed out that the hospital was once a training ground for doctors who did laparoscopic surgeries.

“This hospital used to be a mecca for young surgeons, including myself, who wanted to learn laparoscopic surgery. We came here and we were able to share experiences…and this hospital used to have one of the highest rates for laparoscopy surgeries,” added Dawes.

He charged that the surgical team at the hospital has been cut and some basic surgical procedures can no longer be done there.

“Now the surgical team is basically gutted, there is no consultant surgeon, basic things like hernia and gallbladders are not being done at this time,” said Dawes.

According to the opposition spokesman, although the hospital has seen an upgrade in status there are many issues that need to be addressed.

“An upgrade in name does not mean that people who are being served are better off,” said Dawes as he argued that although the hospital has been upgraded from a Type C to a Type B the service has not improved.

Dawes raised concerns about the hospital’s deteriorating conditions, stressing the urgent need for a structured plan to restore it as a leading healthcare facility.

“We took a general tour of the hospital, assessing both the services provided and the deficiencies they are encountering,” he said.

“We need to go back to where Annotto Bay Hospital was before and build on that to make it a model for hospitals across the country — centres of excellence with diverse specialities. This is just the starting point.

“There’s a perennial issue with staffing shortages and not much is being done to address this issue,” said Dawes as he urged the authorities to move from the false narrative of a building being painted and refurbished meaning that patients will get better services.

“We have to move past the point where we are creating a false equivalency that where we see a painted building that is refurbished it means that you are better off going there as a patient. Because it’s certainly not the case at Annotto Bay Hospital and I am extremely disappointed, that this has been allowed to happen to one of the hospitals that really and truly should have built on a legacy of advanced surgical areas,” added Dawes.

Responding to questions on what will be done to improve the health sector if the PNP is elected to form the next Government, Dawes that the sector needs someone who understands how the system works.

“With respect to the Ministry of Health, I consider myself…a technocrat who has an understanding of the system, who is willing to forge partnership and work with other persons in their different specialities — the nurses, ambulance drivers, nurse assistants, the grounds men, the doctors and we all can by pooling our creative resources to find solutions to the problems that exists,” declared Dawes.

He said the Opposition is calling for an honest and immediate reassessment of the hospital’s needs and a concrete, actionable plan to address the crisis before the situation worsens.

In the meantime Brown criticised the Government’s handling of the healthcare system.

“Based on what we saw today, I can’t help but highlight that what we have been seeing so far is governing by announcement, governing by cutting ribbons, while behind the scenes, the people are actually struggling,” charged Brown.