THE current state of health care services in our Fair Helen is disappointing as well as disadvantageous for Saint Lucians who are unable to shoulder the cost of acquiring care overseas and are forced to make do with what is available locally.
The inefficiencies of our health care system have become even more evident in the past week whilst attempting to access CT scan services and being informed that a scheduled appointment had to be postponed as the machine was not working.
It was rather concerning to realise that the only facility that has a CT scan machine available for use is currently unable to deliver said service. In making inquiries, I learned that the public health system supposedly has had a CT scan machine for years that is not in use. I am very curious to know why this is the case and I am sure other Saint Lucians in my predicament would like to know as well.
We can surely do better than the current situation in which we find ourselves. Accessing services such as CT scans and MRI already “burn a hole” in the pockets of hard working St Lucians and now we are forced to endure pains and discomforts because we cannot utilise the tools that would specifically identify a medical condition, with the end results of obtaining definitive information for the prescription of the relevant treatment.
It is my hope that sooner rather than later that the current CT scan machine becomes available, and the other, which from my understanding is not in use, becomes accessible to those in need of these services.
Concerned Citizen