Healthcare system has collapsed

THE EDITOR: There is no doubt that our nation’s healthcare system has been overburdened and understaffed since the emergence of the covid19 pandemic. However, we have now reached the point of collapse.

On Christmas Day in the late afternoon a relative fell very ill. He was too weak to walk and I alone could not carry him out of his second-storey apartment. I called EMS for an ambulance around 4 pm. After 20 minutes on hold I finally got to speak with an operator, who assured me an ambulance was on its way.

Two hours later there was no ambulance in sight. I called again and after more than 20 minutes on hold I was told the ambulance was in a different part of the country and it would take at least another 30 minutes to arrive.

Had my relative taken a turn for the worst he would have passed away while waiting for the ambulance.

Two days later another relative, a two-year-old toddler, fell very ill and was immediately taken to the Mt Hope Hospital by her parents, only to face another failure from the health system.

The nurses drew blood but after six hours of waiting the blood was yet to go to the laboratory and was just sitting on a desk in the emergency department. There was no doctor in sight to attend to her. Thankfully the child began to feel better and was taken home to rest – still waiting for help.

Has our healthcare system collapsed? I 100 per cent believe it has.

DANIEL T BERTIE

via e-mail