Dalle

Following revelations of the death of an infant at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH), as well as substandard conditions at the institution, Health Minister Horace Dalley held a press conference last Wednesday. But no information was forthcoming about improving the maintenance system at the institution to prevent the prolonged breakdown of vital equipment and improve sanitary conditions.

The institution appeared to be operating on a crisis management basis. Decentralisation of the health sector — the creation of four regional administrative bodies — was supposed to improve the service but the silence and invisibility of the administration of South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), overseers of the VJH, is discomforting. It did not escape the attention of the press corps that even though the SERHA's head was present at the Health Ministry's press conference, questions were fielded either by Minister Dalley or Dr. Grace Allen-Young, the Permanent Secretary. Below are exchanges between The Gleaner's Health Edito, Eulalee Thompson and Health Minister Horace Dalley at the press conference.

ET: It appears to me that we are in the mode of crisis management and I would like to know if there is any system in your ministry for preventative maintenance?

Minister: I am not in the mode of crisis management. Ms. Thompson. I spoke in the Parliament several weeks ago and I indicated a number of things. First, to sustain our health records, we have to strengthen and refocus our energies on the primary health care system. The secondary and tertiary health care system we have to make sure that we do things to them so that they are in good standing. And I pledged in Parliament that the KPH, Bustamante, UHWI, will not be allowed to sink any further, that is why I did not agree that there is a crisis here ...

In the system here, Eulalee, while the regionalisation has not caused any serious damage, there are challenges, and I intend to make some changes. You can ask later on and I will tell you what changes, because I intend to do something special with the maintenance of VJH and KPH and Bustamante Hospital.

ET: What is it you plan to do, because it does appear that we are operating in crisis management because the information we have been getting over the last few weeks is that the autoclave machine has been malfunctioning for some time. Now, all of a sudden, we are hearing that in four weeks we are going to get a new autoclave machine.

Minister: But placements were made for new autoclave machines prior to last week ... That's not crisis management, Eulalee, with respect. The infrastructure is old, and there are things down there for years that need to be attended to, we know and ... I am not going to lay down and play dead, and whenever we talk about crisis, we abdicate.

ET: For clarity, what I would like to find out is whether there is some system, schedule of preventative maintenance? Why do you have to wait until a machine breaks down before you can order another one - Something as essential as an autoclave?

Minister: Eulalee, let me tell you something. Arrangements were made because the autoclave was on and off. There are times when the generator breaks down, when the AC breaks down, I am sure that in your own house, there are times when something does not work.

I am saying that because you can't predict when a boiler is going to go, if it is 40 years old ... In the same way, we have ordered a new elevator because we are tired of hearing that the elevator is not working, and our expectant moth-ers can't be taken up and they can't go up the stairs ... We have to schedule the things that we have to do. Arrangements were made to have sterilisation done, outside (of Victoria Jubilee Hospital) because there was a broken-down autoclave.

Send feedback to eulalee. thompson@gleanerjm.com.