THIS is an open letter to the Minister of Health.

Dear Sir, when the People's Partnership took office there was much hope and fanfare. Not much has changed or transpired, has it?

We still have disgusting stories coming out of our health institutions.

We don't have a drill to effect brain surgery! Come on, the cost of renting it for two days is the cost of a plane ticket to fly to Miami or New York to purchase a few drills and their bits and other equipment that the department may need.

That you have to "tender" the process is laughable when there are many stories that you all bypass the tendering process to suit the occasion.

Your institutions still operate in archaic conditions.

Imagine, we as a prosperous country do not have one — not one — modern hospital.

Shame on both of you, the current administration, and the previous administration.

Why are we still having to speak about inadequate health services, people dying for lack of care, no equipment or broken diagnostic equipment, patients sleeping on the floor, hours and hours waiting in stifling emergency rooms, one doctor in an emergency room at any given time, no medicine in the pharmacies?

Your premise is not true. Your banner is the "People's Partnership" but we the people have no say in the "partnership".

Where is the general hospital for Chaguanas?

Chaguanas is becoming the main hub for Central and all you gave us is an upgrade to a health centre.

How many an accident victim has died while being transported to San Fernando General, which in time takes well over an hour and in medical terms you should know this is very, very critical in saving a life.

We need a hospital for the Penal/Siparia /Barrackpore area. Another one for the Princes Town/Rio/ Mayaro area.

When you all came into power we the long suffering non-PNM areas thought we would be getting a major relief and uplift of services that were denied us since Independence Day.

We are still waiting.

Upgrade the area hospitals like Sangre Grande, Point Fortin, Augustus Long in Pointe-a-Pierre, Arima etc to at least 50-bed, full-service institutions.

You can make San Fernando, Mt Hope and PoS General specialty hospitals where you can transfer patients who need critical care in specific fields to get the care they need when the area hospitals cannot perform a specific procedure.

Wazir Mohammed

via e-mail