The most cynical among us could easily surmise that it may be in the interest of privately operated medical providers, even inadvertently, if this country’s public health care system crumbles before our eyes.
It is difficult to ignore the growing divide in Barbados between those who have the financial means to access quality private health care and the related tests and state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities, and the poor and financially burdened who must take their chances and suffer the indignity of a 48- or 72-hour wait at our once esteemed Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s (QEH) Accident and Emergency Department.
Mrs Brathwaite from Eagle Hall may be fortunate to have her treatment handled at one of the island’s polyclinics but there too resides a system bedevilled with delays and shortages of critical equipment and services. Therefore, Mrs Brathwaite must pray that her situation does not deteriorate and that she requires more acute care at the state-owned hospital.
When calypsonian Biggie Irie penned and performed his 2024 hit tune QEH, some accused him of going too far, of pulling down the institution, or airing our dirty laundry for the world to hear.
The 2014 Sweet Soca Monarch offered his personal account of a harrowingly long wait in the A&E Department.
With the growing and increasingly distressing complaints about access, quality of patient care, and the administrative processes at the hospital, it is time someone wrestles this monstrous animal to the ground.
In the meantime, poor people are suffering, many in the proudful Bajan silence, while others like Biggie Irie are no longer prepared to quietly accept a failing level of health care for which the country is spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
For the well-to-do, money is not a problem. MPs and others in high places are well-positioned to hop on a plane and fly to Miami or New York to receive quality medical care. They can afford to call a private ambulance that will arrive promptly at their doorsteps, or pay approximately $1 000 for a CT scan, or about $600 for basic medical tests.
The average cost of a visit to a general practitioner is around $100 while a specialist hovers around $250. How many weekly, minimum wage earners can visit the doctor and still purchase food for the week? Small wonder that so many people are turning up at A&E in hopes of seeing a doctor for non-emergency complaints. Many have not attended a private doctor to assess whether their complaint is a non-emergency or signs of something life-threatening.
Barbados boasts to the world that health care is free. The aspiring middle-class and retirees with disposable income are paying exorbitant health insurance rates that, unfortunately, are providing coverage for fewer conditions and medical needs, while deductible levels rise in a market where the pool of competitors is shallow.
Earlier this week, a radio call-in show moderator described the situation as the Americanisation of health care in Barbados. That was not a compliment.
No one should stifle private sector participation in any sector, but the state must be the protector for the least in our society. Members of the middle class who are the main targets for the imposition of taxes can reasonably ask why their salaries should be impacted so heavily by taxes and levies if they are still required to pay to access quality care.
A 2021 article in Harvard Health Publishing drew attention to the broken health system in the world’s wealthiest industrialised nation. The publication cited the uneven access to good health care in the United States, noting that there was a tendency to “delay and deny” high-quality care to those most in need.
It added: “Despite spending far more on healthcare than other high-income nations, the US scores poorly on many key health measures, including life expectancy, preventable hospital admissions, suicide, and maternal mortality. And for all that expense, satisfaction with the current healthcare system is relatively low in the US.
“High costs combined with high numbers of underinsured or uninsured means many people risk bankruptcy if they develop a serious illness. Prices vary widely, and it is nearly impossible to compare the quality or cost of your healthcare options — or even to know how big a bill to expect.”
This is not the healthcare model that Barbadians desire or deserve.
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