Garth Rattray | Deficient healthcare deterring returning residents

Many people have expressed their fondest wish to return home to Jamaica.

They went to developed countries to seek opportunities for a better life for themselves and their families. In many cases, their sojourn abroad lasted almost a lifetime. For others, it lasted many decades. Now, in their sixth, seventh, and, perhaps, eighth decade of life, they are semi-retired or retired and capable of living wherever they please. Returning residents can contribute economically and socially to our society while maintaining a comfortable lifestyle.

Not long ago, the prime concern of returning residents was the fear of chicanery and crime. Some have been badly fleeced by building contractors and/or relatives they trusted to construct their ‘dream home’ or investment real estate while they prepare to return to the island. Others have been killed by greedy people and even by relatives who preyed on them because they perceived them to be wealthy (from their savings, investments, and overseas pensions).

Networking has made returning residents more aware of the charlatans. The general fear of opportunistic crime has diminished since the Government significantly reduced our murder rate. Returning residents are fully aware that there is no safe haven on the planet, but some places are obviously safer than others. Thanks to our reduction in murder rate, and major crimes, currently, most of them feel that their risk of becoming targets for theft, home invasion, and violent crime in general, is not as big an issue as it used to be.

A huge concern remains our antiquated and often hostile bureaucracy at work in our financial institutions and government departments. Stumbling blocks and red tape tangle up the works. It’s an open secret that within ‘the system’, palms are amenable to being greased at several levels. This makes citizens speculate that the entrenched, prevalent laissez-faire attitudes, delays, rigmarole, unaccountability, and inefficiency in accessing services are kept in place to facilitate corruption.

Some people have insurmountable problems importing their household goods and even sorting out their immigration status. I have a cousin who was born in England to Jamaican parents and grandparents. Although she (partially) grew up here, she never had a CARICOM passport. She needed one to purchase property without paying exorbitant taxes.

BOARD A PLANE

Because the Registrar General Department’s website was “giving trouble”, she had to board a plane to Jamaica twice. The first time she was turned back at Miami because of Hurricane Melissa. She had to go to that government department in person just because no one rectified a problem with the website. As usual, there is no accountability for this serious problem.

Other concerns for returning residents are infrastructure problems, poor roads in places, lengthy times for repairing roads, inconsistent and often substandard utilities, problems with or absent potable water, and ‘dirty’, expensive, undependable power supply. There’s also the fear of poor drainage and flooding, especially in areas where flooding was not common.

Returnees are also spooked by the high cost of living. Having to pay steeply marked-up prices for goods makes them wonder if their pensions and/or investments will run out before they die. In a developing country such as ours, where there is little to no social safety net, they could end up without a roof over their heads.

Having to face the general indiscipline and aggression on the roads is a big turn-off. The minibuses and taxi cabs have rewritten the road code to suit their penchant for speed, overtaking long lines, and ignoring the rules of the road. Sadly, regular road users are patterning them because they see that the hoggish way of driving gets them to the head of the line.

However, the greatest concern that they express is for the numerous deficiencies within our healthcare system. Ageing comes with inevitable health problems. At the age that people want to come back home, they will need access to adequate and efficient healthcare, especially in emergency situations. That unfulfilled need keeps them living in developed countries.

Jamaica needs more, better-staffed, and better-equipped Type A (public) hospitals and more well-equipped private hospitals. I know for a fact that within the Kingston and St Andrew area (our metropolis), there have been times when all the private hospitals were at capacity, and the University Hospital of the West Indies was also at capacity, leaving the Kingston Regional Hospital as the only one admitting patients. Additionally, some emergency patients must spend days suffering in chairs because beds are scarce.

People must depend heavily on family, friends, neighbours, and taxicabs for emergency transport because private ambulances are very expensive and there are times when none are available, especially on Sundays. A good friend of mine had an emergency on a Sunday, and being unable to get an ambulance, she desperately called the police for help but was sternly reprimanded by the woman on the other end of the line. She said, “This is the POLICE!” and offered no assistance or advice.

The ambulances assigned to various hospitals are not accessible to the general public. However, the Ministry of Health and Wellness partnered with the Jamaica Fire Brigade so that the public can try for ambulance service through some fire stations.

Speaking to existing problems within Jamaica’s healthcare system often leads some in authority to deny, disavow, deflect, defend, or disregard the issues. Thankfully, there are continuing efforts to improve the system, and commendable plans are in the works, but urgent matters and serious problems remain unaddressed. It is common knowledge that many citizens are suffering because of this.

Garth Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice, and author of ‘The Long and Short of Thick and Thin’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com