More than one year ago I wrote a letter to our Minister of Health, Mr Terrence Deyalsingh, via a letter to the editor, pleading with him to immediately address, prioritise and provide an immediate solution to the then serious anomaly that had been existing at the Sangre Grande Hospital.
Top of the list was the non-functional CT Scanning machine which had not been operational for months. That anomaly continues to exist, even to this day. It is my understanding that it works, but sporadically so, with the dye-injection component breaking down all the time.
It is the bane of cancer patients who need to have full-body scans to ascertain whether their cancer has gone into remission or not, depending on where in the body the cancer was located initially, or whether it has spread to other parts.
Drugs to treat cancer and other serious diseases have not been available for some time now, and it seems that no one can say when they might become accessible. One cancer patient was told that his treatment would cost circa $27,000. Where could this poor man get this amount of money?
Many people prefer to access the services and facilities of the Sangre Grande Hospital because of the fantastic treatment and customer service every patient receives there. Every single doctor, nurse, attendant, worker, every member of staff there gives of his utmost to satisfy the needs of the patients, hence the reason for having fully functioning equipment in every department at all times. It is therefore expected that everything associated with their quality delivery of services would be taxed to the limit.
Alas, this has not been forthcoming. As such, many patients needing critical diagnoses and treatment have had to be turned away because the CT scanning machine is old, had been often breaking down, and now it is almost totally down. No one can say when it will be functioning at its maximum capacity.
Word has it that the worn parts that have been removed are recycled and replaced by the people who have been contracted to do the maintenance and smooth running of said equipment. This, one would agree, is highly untenable and unacceptable if indeed this is true.
The outrageous cost of a CT Scan at private institutions are upwards of $5,000 dependent on what is required. How are the elderly like me and others financially challenged going to get the funds to pay for this?
Please Mr Deyalsingh, could you please look into these dire and critical situations as soon as possible and provide us especially with functioning CT scanning equipment which would not break down during its operation, as we choose to continue to access the wonderful services of the Sangre Grande Hospital, the best hospital in our nation.
My sincere thanks to you, and to every member of staff at the Sangre Grande Hospital.
Eva David-Swain
Coalmine, Sangre Grande