Ministries Collaborating to Resolve Social Cases at Public Hospitals

The Ministries of Health and Wellness and Local Government and Community Development have been collaborating to expand infirmaries as part of efforts to resolve the issue of social cases at public hospitals.

Health Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, recently renewed an appeal for persons to fetch their loved ones once they are discharged from public hospitals.

He said, so far, the Ministry has provided funding to build a new ward at the Spanish Town Infirmary in St. Catherine to relocate several persons from the Spanish Town Hospital whose families have failed to pick them up, and who have indicated they have nowhere to go.

Dr. Tufton adds that more work will be done in other regions across the island to ensure that all social cases are removed from public health facilities.

“We did it in Trelawny. We had 30 social cases that have been relocated from the Cornwall Regional Hospital to the Trelawny Infirmary. We are doing something in Westmoreland with the Municipal Authority there. Once they are officially discharged, the social case file is determined whether they have relatives, whether they are genuine social cases,” he said during Wednesday’s (August 16) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

Dr. Tufton advised that 500 of the 700 residents at the Bellevue Hospital in Kingston are classified as social cases.

“They could be easily treated from home, but have been abandoned. So there is a huge society problem which we have to recognise,” he emphasised.

Dr. Tufton adds that the Ministry is exploring the option of legislative changes to tackle the issue.

“I had announced some time ago that we would look at pursuing legal action against family members who abandon their relatives when that evidence was there… and we have been waiting for a definitive position from the Attorney General’s office.

“The indicative position has been that we may not have jurisdictional responsibility to pursue the matter at that level and it may mean legislative changes. But I have not gotten that firmly as yet, which is what has prevented us from going to the courts already,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Tufton is again appealing to families to pick up their loved ones from hospitals when they are discharged.

He pointed out that the Ministry is doing all it can to find a solution for the patients who have been abandoned by their families and are now housed at public hospitals across Jamaica.

“We have, at any point in time, about 10 per cent of our hospital beds occupied by persons who are not supposed to be there. They have been discharged but they have nowhere to go. Their relatives have abandoned them and they live in the hospitals. The infirmaries are already overcrowded [as] we have transferred a lot to our infirmaries,” Dr. Tufton indicated.

The appeal comes in the wake of a video circulating on social media regarding patients at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, which Dr. Tufton described as “unfortunate”.

“In the Western Region, we have over 100 social cases, and that region has approximately 600 beds… so it’s a struggle. Not saying it’s not something we need to improve on. We are doing that by building out… but it is a struggle,” he said.

Additionally, Dr. Tufton said the Ministry intends to expand the community outreach around the treatment of mental health.