Chief Sec unaware of health task force's status

Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis says he does not know if the work of the health task force is ongoing.

The task force was established by his predecessor, Kelvin Charles, last November, to examine the operations of Tobago’s health sector.

It was appointed after Tobagonians raised serious concerns about the quality of health care on the island. There were calls from the Minority and a petition for the removal of Dr Agatha Carrington as Secretary of Health, Wellness and Family Development.

Carrington resigned on February 28 to make room for PNM political leader Tracy Davidson-Celestine to become a Councillor. Davidson-Celestine later assumed the health, wellness and family development portfolio.

The management of the island's health sector has not been particularly stable the last six months with the firing of Scarborough General Hospital's Medical Chief of Staff Dr Rufaro Celestine in November last year, the firing of TRHA CEO Sheldon Cyrus in March and resignation of Scarborough General Hospital administrator Dr Kumar Boodram in March.

The task force comprises Tobago House of Assembly Chief Administrator Bernadette Solomon-Koroma (chairman); TRHA CEO and financial consultant Ashworth Learmont; Dr Anton Cumberbatch; human resource consultant Carol David and Cecile Beckles.

Its terms of reference includes issues relating to lead­er­ship, hu­man re­source prac­tices, or­gan­i­sa­tion­al struc­ture, pay­ment to sup­pli­ers, chal­lenges fac­ing the health sec­tor and oth­er mat­ters need­ing ur­gent and im­me­di­ate at­ten­tion.

However, at Wednesday’s post- executive council news conference, Scarborough Library, Dennis told reporters he could not give an update on the work of the task force.

“I will have to dig into that to get some information,” he said.

“I attended one meeting of that task force. Since then, I have not heard much about its operations so I will have to ask some questions to find out where the work of that task force is at this time.”

At a public consultation at Scarborough Library, in March, a TRHA employee expressed grave concerns about the composition of the task force, describing the body as a case of “himself unto himself.”

The employee, who has over ten years of experience in the TRHA, believes the members of the task force, by virtue of their affiliation, will not get a candid, comprehensive view of the sector.

The employee also expressed reservations about the scope of their duties.

“Pointedly, let me say that you cannot take your mosquito problems, your malaria problems to a mosquito. It cannot be himself unto himself.

“If that is where the remit of this task force is going to start and end, you are going to himself and asking himself to correct himself. And that is conflicted an interest as it gets.”