Yearwood: Where is money from health service tax going?

The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) is questioning how the government is using the money collected from the Health Service Contribution (HSC), claiming the $60 million it has raised has failed to fix seemingly never-ending problems at the country’s lone public hospital.

In an online discussion on Wednesday, DLP President Dr Ronnie Yearwood said the HSC, which was introduced in October 2018 and implemented through the National Insurance and Social Security Service to help raise funds to pay for the island’s rising health bill, had not made any significant improvement to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).

His comments came amid reports that a radiation treatment machine at the QEH has been out of commission for several months, with several cancer patients placed on waiting lists to have their procedures performed outside of the country.

Yearwood said the report on the cancer patients, along with other issues reported at the institution for the past several months, do not paint a pleasant picture of the hospital, and he believes the government needs to give answers as to how the health levy is being spent on its upkeep.

He hit back at Central Bank Governor Dr Kevin Greenidge who declared the Barbados economy was “back” as he signalled in his review of 2023 that the country had fully recovered from the depression of the COVID-19 pandemic: “If the economy was back, why is the QEH in such a mess, where [are] the cancer machines?”

“What kind of human being, what kind of minister, what kind of structure to a political party could do that to people who are vulnerable, who are suffering, who are hurting, who are not receiving the care that they deserve that they are used to when we are raking in . . . over $50 million for the health levy?

“We were promised that the model of financing for the QEH would make it sustainable because the money ain’t mixing up with government money. Why is it not working, why is the model not working? You are not explaining this to us. Where is the $60 million that you are taking directly in that health levy from Barbadians?” the DLP leader questioned.

Yearwood described the current situation at the QEH as unacceptable as he urged the government to get its priorities in order and correct the situation.

“How has the QEH reached this state of disrepair, this state where people are not getting the treatment that they deserve and that they need, and these things can cause loss of life? Let us be realistic. You spend five days before you get on a bed in a corridor somewhere in [Accident & Emergency], how is that conducive to your good healthcare?” he questioned.

“The ordinary people of this country can’t get on a plane and go nowhere for no treatment. They have to go to the QEH, and it should be functioning. The question is, where are the priorities?” 

(SB)