Sheena Gayle and Dalton Laing, Gleaner Writers

A section of the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, St James. - file

WESTERN BUREAU:

THE ST James Health Department has received no additional funds or new equipment from the Ministry of Health to facilitate the changes to the health system on April 1, when user fees will be abolished.

Parish manager for the St James Health Department, Valencia Pearson-Maponya, said a request was made to the ministry for equipment and money but, to date, no allocation has been made.

She said, however, that the department would continue to use the resources efficiently to serve the public.

All five parishes in the county of Cornwall (Trelawny, St James, Hanover, Westmoreland and St Elizabeth) utilise the services of the Type-B clinic.

Pearson-Maponya said 90 per cent of the patients who use the facility are from St James, which has 24 health centres.

The Gleaner's news team visited the clinic in downtown Montego Bay recently and found that patients had to use the traditional method of registration, which involved acquiring a number from the security guard on duty, then proceed to pay a registration fee before seeing a doctor.

The parish manager said several operational changes have been made in preparation for the removal of user fees on April 1.

Ready for changes

She said patients would be required to adhere to their appointment dates. In addition, more persons were employed in the security, medical records and housekeeping departments.

"We are ready for the changes that will come but we are mindful that it will be a process of transition and teething pains are expected," she reiterated.

Meanwhile, a visit to the Savanna-la-Mar Health Clinic in Westmoreland revealed that an average of 200 patients access the services of the facility daily.

Staff and patients were gearing up for longer waiting periods when user fees are removed tomorrow.

One patient, who spent three hours at the facility, was unruffled.

"This wait is acceptable because there are times when it is much longer," he noted.

The staff at the clinic carried out their duties in a professional manner.

One member of staff explained that even if a person comes to the clinic late, he would still be allowed to see the doctor.

"We don't turn people back because it's close to closing time. We try to assist as much as we can," the worker said. "I think next week (April 1) is going to be hard though because a lot of the patients are waiting until the free time to come to the clinic so we might have more patients than we can handle."