OUTGOING Member of Parliament (MP) for St Mary Central People’s National Party’s (PNP) Dr Morais Guy has described Jamaica’s public health system as being at a “critical breaking point”.

According to Guy, the public health sector is in this critical state despite the spirited defence given a week ago by the portfolio minister Dr Christopher Tufton.

Making his contribution to the 2025/26 Sectoral Debate in the Parliament on Tuesday, Guy — a medical doctor and former Opposition spokesman on health — charged that Jamaicans are being left hurting based on the state of the sector.

“Equipment failures, industrial action from every level of staff, and overcrowded, deteriorating facilities, have become the daily reality for our people,” charged Guy.

“Many Jamaicans visiting hospitals for needed, or emergency care, have spent days and weeks fighting to be accommodated with a bed. Some have been forced to remain on stretchers, in wheelchairs, on chairs, and benches and yet others have had to make cold ground their bed, even if not rock stone their pillow,” added Guy.

In a direct address to Tufton, Guy said, “Minister, you must be aware of these situations which are not limited to the COVID pandemic period, neither are they limited to any particular institution, whether urban or rural, whether Type A, B or C”.

“The Government’s focus on public relations and optics, rather than the actual delivery of services, has pushed the sector to the brink of collapse. Every week, we see or hear of another grieving family, another life lost, another tragedy that could have been prevented,” charged Guy.

He told the House that Tufton, in berating the PNP Administration’s handling of the health portfolio, pointed to a newspaper article of 2015 which mentioned that doctors were using plastic bags as aprons in operating theatre.

“This doesn’t happen nowadays — or at least we haven’t heard that — but what happens is that surgeries are aborted because of the absence of theatre linen, because of the absence of functioning theatres, because theatres have become mould-infested and out of commission.

“At least in 2015, the patients were getting much-needed surgery. One cannot say the same for today,” charged Guy.

The veteran MP argued that the health sector is not facing a just a crisis of infrastructure but a crisis of leadership and compassion.

He charged that nothing highlights this crisis more starkly than the issues surrounding the $31 million spent to purchase a neurosurgical drill for the Bustamante Hospital for Children.

Guy noted that the matter is now the subject of two lawsuits and declared, “I have no intention of reciting certain details here today. Suffice it to say some of that $31 million is money that could have been used to purchase life-saving medicines, repair broken equipment, or hire much-needed staff. We must question the value for money proposition and assert also that accountability is needed in the system”.

He underscored the PNP’s demand for answers surrounding the purchase of the drill.

“We demand a full and independent investigation. Tell the people of Jamaica how their money is being spent, and those responsible must be held to account. This is not the time for excuses. This is the time for action. The Government must act decisively to restore trust and ensure that every dollar spent on healthcare delivers real value to the people,” said Guy as raked Tufton over the coals over the delays and increasing costs on the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) renovation project.

“The Cornwall Regional Hospital is the saddest situation in the public health system and represents a continuing crisis, which has affected the entire western Jamaica for nearly a decade,” added Guy.

He charged that people of five parishes have had no access to health-care at the only Type A facility in that part of Jamaica since 2016.

“And Jamaica remains without a firm date for completion of the engineering and construction work and without a date for the reopening and provision of full services the public expects from a Type A facility,” said Guy while bashing Tufton for his attempts to explain the money being spent on the facility.

“It is disingenuous of the minister to come here and speak only about the $9.4 billion already paid out for fees, construction and equipment without acknowledging that the estimates of expenditure, prepared and presented by his own Government and Ministry of Finance, have projected the total cost of almost $23 billion.

“In fact, $21.4 billion is what is in the Estimates of Expenditure for 2025-2026 but the minister has decided to tag on another $2.1b as was indicated by him at the opening of the administrative block in April 2025”.

According to Guy, Tufton apologised for the extended delay of the work on CRH last week in what was a clear indication that a general election is in the air.