Dear Editor,

Although over the recent years, the Suddie Public Hospital has undergone some remarkable changes in its infrastructure, the poor quality of services offered remains a critical issue which needs urgently to be addressed.

The quality of health care offered to the public by the Cuban doctors leaves much to be desired. However, a major problem which remains unresolved for years is inadequate administration at this hospital. Frustrated relatives and families of sick patients are being harassed by some doctors and nurses who seem to ignore the fact that we are all taxpayers.

The Accident and Emergency Unit which is designed to give prompt treatment to emergency cases was defeated on Thursday, February 04, 2010 with my sister-in-law  Feeza Tahir’s death when a doctor failed to arrive on time. It just takes basic common sense to administrate this unit since it can be a matter of life or death if they have to wait for too long for care like my sister-in-law. In the past, there have been numerous complaints about this unit. Yet there seems to be little done to help the plight of the poor who will flock the Suddie Public Hospital for treatment, since they cannot afford private treatment. Some who are employed to provide a service to the public are misusing their profession to extract money from the poor.

It is my fervent hope that our Honourable Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy who I consider to be much more respected in the health fraternity, kindly notes and acts on some of my concerns and realises that all is not well at Suddie Public Hospital. Most of these employees feel as if they are doing you a favour, little do they realise that it is our taxpayers’ money which pays them a salary to maintain our health.

Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan