Yesterday Director of Health Services Dr. Michael Pitts and a team from the Ministry of Health visited the Healthcare Partners Hospital to assess the level of care offered in the dialysis unit. This morning Dr. Pitts had another meeting – but this one was with Lady Ombudsman Cynthia Pitts who wrote Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Health Dr. Peter Allen on Tuesday. In the strongly worded letter, she asked the Ministry of Health to do its job and ensure that the 28 dialysis patients for whom government is paying for their treatment at the Healthcare Partners Hospital – receive the best possible service. And when she called, the Ministry of Health had to listen because while the Ombudsman can’t take the Healthcare Partners Hospital to task, under the Ombudsman Act, she can do so with the Ministry of Health. This evening she told us that the patients went to her and she had to act.
Cynthia Pitts, Lady Ombudsman
“Government is paying for a service, my information is that the service is not the best, it isn’t of the best quality and the patients were concerned that they did not believe that the Ministry was making enough efforts to see that the quality was the best and so they came to me.”
Keith Swift,
“In the letter you said that BHPL was taking advantage of the situation. Can you explain?”
Cynthia Pitts,
“When I wrote that letter you have to understand that I did not speak to anyone at the Ministry of Health and I tried to get to speak to them before writing the letter but I couldn’t. But I had to write the letter, I couldn’t be waiting around. So in the letter are facts which were told to me by Mr. Cruz. So my letter is peppered with ‘my understanding is this and my understanding’ is that so that everyone knows that that is what I understand and it might not be the facts.”
Keith Swift,
“After speaking with Dr. Pitts do you still feel that BHPL is taking advantage of the situation?”
Cynthia Pitts,
“Hearing it being said that what Mr. Cruz is saying, that well according to him the amount of money that government is paying, it sounded then that he was saying that BHPL has received monies to pay this doctor and it would seem to be an administrative problem, if the doctors were not coming out, government had given BHPL to pay these doctors, well then it was not the Ministry’s fault. But now I am hearing from that Dr. Pitts that no, that was not the agreement. I need to see the agreement for myself. I need to see what was being paid for.”
Keith Swift,
“Have you requested a copy of the agreement?”
Cynthia Pitts,
“No I have not.”
Keith Swift,
“Will you?”
Cynthia Pitts,
“Yes I will because I want to see it for myself. But regardless of who is saying what, the point is we need the patients to get good service right now and Dr. Pitts did tell me about some recommendations and changes he has been discussing with BHPL.”
Dialysis activist Jose Cruz is tonight recovering at home in Camalote Village after a health scare last night. His pressure dropped dangerously low and he had to be rushed to the hospital. Cruz and other dialysis patients have been protesting the resignation of their dialysis nurse and the introduction of a new consent form. In the event of a collapse of services at Healthcare Partners, government we are told has already made alternative arrangements at a medical facility in Chetumal.
