The report of the five-member independent team which investigated clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients in the public health sector is overall a shameful and disgraceful indictment of the appalling and atrocious state of the public health sector in Trinidad and Tobago.

Terrence Deyalsingh and his team at the Ministry of Health should hang their heads in shame at the horrors and terrors revealed in this report. Where were they when patients were forced to endure the horrible conditions that existed in many of the public healthcare institutions? Did they not know what the patients were forced to endure? And did they do anything about it or did they just turn a deaf ear to what they heard?

Moreover, Deyalsingh should fire all the RHA Boards, the CEOs, the DOHs and the Medical Directors under all of whose watch patients were subjected to unbelievably unacceptable and terrible conditions while at the public healthcare institutions.

What systems did the Ministry of Health and RHAs put in place so that patients and their relatives could seek help and redress for the awful conditions meted out to patients at these public healthcare institutions? To whom could the patients and their relatives turn for help?

I myself having treated successfully over 900 patients with covid, was beseeched by relatives to help get their covid family members and friends out of these public healthcare facilities where patients were all too often treated in an inhumane manner.

It is my view that covid patients would do better to be treated at home rather than in these public healthcare facilities

The five-member team did not have enough time to unearth all the horrors and terrors that patients had to endure and the way to find this out would be to conduct a more extensive survey and interview of patients who were treated in this parallel healthcare system.
As we study the report of the healthcare committee in more detail, there will be in the coming days a lot more to say about the recommendations and findings of the report.

Suffice it to say, Terrence Deyalsing should resign as Minister of Health and all the RHA Board members should be fired forthwith.

Dr. Anand Chatoorgoon
Former Medical Director SFGH