APNU parliamentarian Terrence Campbell has accused the government of presiding over a deteriorating public health system, alleging persistent staff shortages, delayed salaries for healthcare workers, equipment failures and insufficient medical supplies.
In a video posted to his Facebook page, Campbell described the situation as a “serious, very serious crisis” and questioned how such conditions could exist “in the fastest growing economy in the world.”
“Our public health sector is collapsing under severe staffing shortages,” Campbell said in an accompanying statement, while charging that healthcare workers and patients were bearing the consequences.
Campbell alleged that newly graduated Guyanese nurses have been waiting several months after taking up employment before receiving their salaries.
“The nurses are graduating and three months, six months, nine months, seven months later, they can’t get their salaries,” he said. “Imagine you study, you pass your exam, you’re working and seven and nine months you can’t get paid.”
He contended that similar delays were affecting Cuban doctors who are now employed directly by the Government of Guyana following the termination of the medical assistance programme between Guyana and Cuba.
According to Campbell, some Cuban doctors have also gone for months without being paid and have been told they must secure their own accommodation.
“Those doctors, they got families back in Cuba that they got to take care of. They don’t even have a dollar that they could send back to Cuba to their families,” he said.
In his statement, Campbell argued that the salary delays were particularly difficult for the Cuban doctors because they lack family support in Guyana and are unable to send money home.
“Timely payment of salaries is not merely an employment issue, it is essential to retaining staff and ensuring continuity of care. The delays being experienced by our healthcare workers reflect nothing but incompetence,” he said.
Campbell also contended that the health sector is struggling with severe staffing shortages.
He said Cuban doctors had complained of being overworked because there are insufficient medical personnel to meet demand and claimed that reports from the Diamond Regional Hospital indicate that patients seeking outpatient care are unable to see a doctor after 3 pm.
“Within the system, there’s not enough medical personnel to carry the load,” he said, adding that the government was not doing enough to improve remuneration for healthcare workers, resulting in staff leaving the profession.
The opposition parliamentarian further alleged that healthcare institutions are facing equipment failures that are disrupting patient care.
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