Dear Editor,
The Suddie Hospital on which government recently spent millions of dollars to upgrade does not have a proper ambulance ever so much essential for use with the existing conditions that face the institution.

Despite massive rehabilitation works there, the institution is also still without an X-Ray Unit and a Theatre for surgery with these having to be done at the Charity cottage hospital some 30 miles away.

Last Tuesday (2008-06-10) a medical team comprising mainly Cuban specialist and local nurses was to  use the ambulance to take them to the Charity hospital where surgery had to be done on two patients around 9 am on that day.

Although the full complement of the 11-member team was available and prepared to travel to do their job, it so turned out at the very last moment that the vehicle could not make the trip.

From the excuse given, the ambulance had bad tyres and it was a big problem to get a replacement with no certainty as to when it would be put back in order.
A female patient listed for surgery was already in the ambulance at the Suddie hospital compound awaiting transportation when the sudden cancellation caused her to return to the ward.

What was even more disgusting was that a male friend of mine complied with the advice given to him to be at the Charity hospital for surgery at a given time on Tuesday morning of 2008-06-10.

He paid his own travelling expense to be there, but eventually after waiting for several hours in vain he had to return to his Suddie Housing Scheme home ever so much dejected from the inconvenience suffered all because of the bad condition of the ambulance.

Several other friends including me and his family members also travelled to the Charity hospital with the expectation that he would have had the surgery but no useful purpose was served with time and money just being wasted in these hard times.

As a matter of public convenience I personally approached the R.E.O. at his office to give some financial help to the institution to purchase new tyres for the ambulance.

Should an emergency arise in the present situation death would certainly be inevitable.
Yours faithfully,
Baliram Persaud