‘Worst I have seen’…Dawes criticises government on healthcare

People’s National Party (PNP) Member of Parliament for South East St Catherine Dr Alfred Dawes on Sunday criticised the Government’s handling of Jamaica’s public health sector.

The medical doctor, who is also Opposition Spokesperson on Health, lamented the lack of resources and delays faced by Jamaicans seeking healthcare.

Dawes, speaking at the party’s 88th annual conference in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, said more needs to be done to fix the problems.

“I can tell you, comrades, in the over 20 years that I have been a medical doctor, this is the worst I have seen the healthcare sector in Jamaica,” he said.

Dawes argued that Jamaicans are experiencing two different realities in accessing healthcare, depending on their ability to pay.

“In one, your surgery is done in a day... in another, you join a list and fast and pray,” he said.

Dawes argued that despite the Government highlighting increased spending, not much has improved for Jamaicans.

“They love to tell you that the budget has grown, but I ask them, show me the money. Walk into any hospital and show me the money that you have put into health. Because we are seeing the same crowded emergency rooms, the same broken-down theatres and elevators, the same broken-down machines. The care went down when the funding went up,” he charged.

“So don't ask them what they spent. Ask them what they built, and show me the money. Show me the ICUs without the ventilators and show me the money. Show me the ambulances in the garages and show me the money. Show me the $28 million, 10 years later, no [Cornwall] Regional Hospital, still not functional, and show me the money,” he continued.

Dawes said accountability within the health sector must extend to senior levels of government and should not simply result in blame being placed on frontline workers.

“Accountability only points down. That is not accountability. That is blame,” he said.

“We will have accountability from the very top.”

Beyond physical healthcare, Dawes said the country must pay greater attention to emotional and spiritual well-being, particularly as Jamaicans struggle with poverty, homelessness and access to mental health services.

“When half of Jamaica don't know where the meal is coming from... that is cum-bolo capitalism,” he said, linking economic hardship to the wider challenges facing families.

He also criticised what he described as regulatory barriers affecting the importation of medicines, arguing that high medication costs are placing vulnerable patients, including those with cancer, at risk.

Dawes said a PNP administration would seek to increase healthcare funding, expand the National Health Fund and provide Jamaicans with an insurance card that could be used for both public and private healthcare.

“We're talking about outcomes,” he said, stressing that the party's focus should be on “proper health care for all.”

- Mickalia Kington

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