Patients at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Morant Bay, St Thomas, “are being placed in life-threatening situations due to a severe and ongoing shortage of ambulance services”, leaving vulnerable residents unable to access critical medical transport.

St Thomas Eastern Member of Parliament (MP) Rose Shaw said in a press statement that 20 days had passed since she raised the matter at the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament with no meaningful resolution from the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

“Constituents requiring transport to conduct urgent medical tests or respond to emergencies are being left stranded within the hospital’s own grounds. The consequences of this institutional failure are not abstract, they represent a direct and imminent threat to human life,” said the People’s National Party (PNP) MP.

“Patients are experiencing great difficulty accessing ambulance services to transport them for tests and other medical emergencies. The citizens of St Thomas need and deserve better. If this situation is not rectified we are going to face a crisis where deaths that could have been avoided will occur,” she added.

Shaw, who said she had been consistently vocal on this issue, has called on Health Minister Christopher Tufton to “treat the matter as the emergency it is and restore fully operational ambulance services at the hospital without further delay”.

“Ambulances do not move on good intentions. There are no acceptable excuses and no room for further delay. The Ministry of Health must act, and they must act now,” Shaw pleaded.