Linstead Hospital much better under my watch, health minister claims

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. Christopher Tufton, said the Linstead Public Hospital in St. Catherine is much better under his watch as minister, adding that much more is in the offing for the medical facility.

“I am very proud to come here and to walk through the town [of Linstead] and to visit the hospital, because let me just say without fear or favour that it is a lot better today than it was three years ago,” the minister posited last evening during a public meeting at St. Helen’s Roman Catholic Church Hall in Linstead.

He further said: “Linstead Hospital is a 60-bed hospital; there are still some works to be done, but it is really nice, really quaint and I must tell you I see some other things that we will be doing… Better days are ahead for the Linstead Hospital and the people of these parts.”

The minister, giving examples of the work undertaken, bragged about the brand new pharmacy at the hospital.

“You have a brand new pharmacy. Drug Serv will be dispensing drugs to anybody who get a prescription from a doctor in a public health institution. You never had it before; and I understand from the NHF (National Health Fund) that it is well used,” Dr. Tufton said.

He took credit for the new Accident And Emergency area. “I opened the new Accident And Emergency – and yes the plans were in place before me, but I have to take praise fi finish it off… It’s now a really nice facility and the people of Linstead and its environs can use it,” the health minister added.

He noted the completion of work on the hospital’s administrative block, and the new equipment provided.

The minister, in the meantime, told residents that the old pediatric ward is being developed

He is also eyeing better accommodation for nurses at the medical facility.

“I would like to see us do some more work on the nurses accommodation facility. I understand it is in derelict condition. I even hear that people are holding down people in there and creating all kind of crimes and so on. I’ve said to the parish management team, ‘go do an assessment; let’s find a way to restore that [facility] so that our healthcare professionals or otherwise can use it to the benefit of the hospital’,” Dr. Tufton further said.

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