Dr Le Blanc had nothing to apologise for

THE EDITOR: It is unfortunate that Dr. Asante Le Blanc apologised for her claim about the absence of adequate cancer medications in the public healthcare system.

All she would have done was add to what citizens have been complaining about before Joint Select Committee’s town hall meetings on healthcare.

The responses of the Ministry of Health and some politicians appear to be a message to healthcare professionals – stay quiet or we will try and crucify you in and out of Parliament. And you will have little recourse.

A minister claimed nameless oncologists were hurt by Dr. Le Blanc’s statements and they refuted her claims.

This is akin to Donald Trump stating “many people are saying..” Who are the many people, who are the oncologists? Let them come forward and state that they have all the latest pharmaceuticals in the system to treat the different cancers.

Many politicians live in a bubble. On the occasions when they have to use public health, I suspect they do not have to wait months or years for tests, clinic appointments, or surgeries. They very well may have medical and nursing staff fawning over them.

There are many positives in our public healthcare system, including the public/private partnership which allows people to access renal and cardiac services. I was recently in hospital and found the medical and nursing personnel to be kind and courteous. The clerical staff, was another story though.

But this should not mean that we ignore the problems.

I was told I required a very invasive medical procedure which is available in the system.

However, I found out that the procedure in the hospital is performed with none or minimal sedation and can be described as one of the more traumatic experiences of one’s life.

I understand that many patients beg for the procedure to cease because of the unbearable pain. If I wanted the adequate sedation, I would have to pay for the procedure to be done privately. Imagine that! The inequality is mind-boggling.

This was not my first time with the lack of adequate sedation or anesthesia in the public system. Most people complain about medication (or lack thereof), waiting times etc. So my questions to the health minister are:

How many procedures which should be performed under strong sedation are done with only local anesthesia simply because there is inadequate operating theatre space or because there are few anesthesiologists?

What kind of low-grade local anesthesia is being used that it has little or no effect?

How can invasive procedures be done without proper sedation? For crying out loud, this is the 21st century.

I challenge Mr. Deyalsingh to spend a day near a general surgery ward in the public healthcare system. Sometimes it sounds like being close to a medieval torture chamber.

Mr. Deyalsingh has taken to scolding us for not being grateful and is pushing the narrative that public healthcare is “free.”

There is no “freeness”; it is simply a case of money not being exchanged directly. Every citizen pays for healthcare through taxes including VAT.

The country’s resources belong to us so that taxes derived from corporations which profit from our resources are paying on our behalf. The debts are our debts, sometimes for generations. We are not getting any healthcare “for free.”

Let me be clear Mr. Deyalsingh, public health is not free. We also often pay for it with unnecessary pain and suffering.

TARA RAHAMUT

Chaguanas