ST JAMES, Jamaica — The People’s National Party’s (PNP) point man on health, Dr Alfred Dawes, has appealed to healthcare workers to put their confidence in him to represent their interests should the PNP secure victory in the September 3 General Election.

“I am asking you for a little bit of faith in me that I will represent you. You, the healthcare workers, you deserve better working conditions,” he told the crowd gathered for a mass rally held Sunday night in historic Sam Sharpe Square which was transformed into a sea of orange by flag-waving, horn-blowing Comrades.

Dr Dawes argued that healthcare workers, including him, are most familiar with the challenges facing the sector and therefore must be at the forefront of its transformation. In calling him to address the crowd, the candidate for St James Southern, Nekeisha Burchell, functioning as MC, stressed that he was a medical doctor, unlike others who merely hold a PhD — a thinly veiled jab at Minister of Health & Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton.

“We all have to fix it. But I’m going to start by addressing the healthcare workers, because nobody knows the conditions under which we labour like we healthcare workers. Nobody knows the sleepless nights, the pain of losing a patient when the system fails them, and the hopelessness we feel when it happens again and again and again,” he said.

“We know that the healthcare sector can be fixed and it will be fixed, and we have the power for change,” he added.

-Horace Hines