Don’t Abandon Relatives at Hospital This Christmas– Dr. Tufton

Jamaicans are being urged to not abandon their loved ones at hospitals during the Christmas holiday.

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, in making the appeal, said it is a common practice for persons to leave their elderly or sick relatives at hospital, so that they can have a “hassle free” Christmas.

He noted that these patients are added to the social welfare services.

“We have to feed them, they take up a bed, doctors still have to examine them… they need attention, and it deprives attention [from] those who [are genuinely ill],” he pointed out, while addressing a press conference at the Ministry in Kingston on Thursday (Dec.15).

Dr. Tufton said that although the Public Health Act does not allow for these patients to be forcefully removed, hospitals should not be seen as a “day care” service.

Furthermore, he said that the practice of persons abandoning their relatives at hospital is not in “keeping with the spirit of the season, biblically, morally or otherwise”.

“So, I want to make an appeal again, to the public, to make some alternative arrangements,” he emphasised.

Meanwhile, Dr. Tufton noted that although only 3,241 of the more than 5,000 available hospital beds have been in use over the last seven days, the situation could change quickly, as “referral hospitals tend to come under pressure during [the Christmas] period”.

As such, he said that persons will see patients who are not in critical condition being released, so as not to create a burden on the system.

“Sometimes their loved ones complain, but if that sickness is not life-threatening and there is a need to preserve a bed for the anticipated emergency cases, which normally spike during the season, then the decision is always to release persons, and that is likely to happen this year again,” he said.