The Tribune

AS one of the most widely admired and oft quoted world leaders, Sir Winston Churchill’s rousing oratory, wit, and steadfast leadership during the London Blitz held a besieged and frightened nation together, while his legendary tenacity and profound sense of conviction rallied the UK to victory against Hitler’s Germany.

Unlike the head of the Princess Margaret Hospital’s Consultants Union, who has implied that he and his members had no knowledge of the “unconscionable neglect” dumped into Health Minister Dr Duane Sands’ lap when the FNM defeated the PLP last year, Sir Winston has left behind a compendium of sayings that are as applicable to our situation today as they were for a battled scarred world in 1945.

We are surprised, for example, that the head of the Consultant Physicians Staff Association (CPSA) was seemingly unaware of the non-repair of the Princess Margaret Hospital’s roof, significantly damaged by Hurricane Matthew in October, 2015; of the many wards and key medical equipment no longer operational, the CPSA’s apparent lack of knowledge of the parliamentary debate when the public was informed of funds desperately needed to keep the PMH functioning for the sake of patients had been diverted to win an election.

For example, in that debate, Parliament, among many other things, was informed that the PLP government had approved monthly cleaning contracts for mini-hospitals in Exuma and Abaco, to the tune of $424,638.84 and $500,000. However, the clinics were not yet open and no cleaning was yet required.

Meanwhile, back in Nassau, vital repairs in the Cory Newbold ward of the PMH, which had been started, had to be suspended. The suggestion at the time was that the funds, earmarked for this much-needed ward, had to be transferred for the Out Island clinics - remember the winning of an election was seemingly more important than the public’s health.

When Dr Sands’ ministry inherited the problems, the Cory Newbold ward was a scene of work started, but suddenly stopped. The ceiling was being torn out, when the order had been given to down tools. That was the scene when the new government inherited the problems. The next rude awakening was that there were not sufficient funds to carry out the critical hospital repairs. Then it was the problem as to where were funds to be found for staff increases that the PLP government had promised before its defeat?

The PLP’s twisted attempts to deflect their dismal failure in healthcare belongs to a category from which no semblance of dignity - nor validity - could ever prevail. Sir Winston’s lucidity, wit and life’s lessons inspire us today. Take for example: “It’s no use saying we are doing our best. You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary”, or, how about “if you’re going through hell, keep going.”

Similarly, one of our favourites is: “If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a piledriver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time – a tremendous whack!.”

Tomorrow is the beginning of an historic journey for the PMH as it enters a whole new world of medical imaging. Instead of our differences, how about celebrating that, although while The Bahamas might be 20 years behind, the installation of the new X-Ray machines – a Picture, Archiving and Computer System (PACS) and Ct Scanner – starts today at the Princess Margaret Hospital; followed closely by a new CT Scanner for the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport. This means that it’s out with film, and the tedious and time-consuming processing, developing, fixers and water. Instead, it’s now full steam ahead with the electronic, digital images that appear within seconds and can be read by radiologists in the Princess Margaret Hospital in the blink of an eye - just like those in the UK and USA.

It is hoped that the considerable private/public efforts that have gone into assisting the PHA with the ability to diagnose patients’ digitally – an historic first for our nation – will provide the impetus for the Consultants Union and PHA to seriously engage in talks regarding an agreement on proposed physicians’ fees. Instead of being at loggerheads over demands for health insurance and salary increases for an entity – which for all intents and purposes — is now insolvent?

Having approved the deployment of a number of HVAC/Ops teams to assist the PHA resolve some of the outstanding issues facing its various departments, there appears to be a sprinkling of faith – across all sectors of the PHA - that The Bahamas’ main hospital can be transformed into an institution capable of delivering world class patient care to our citizens. With the Corey Newbold ward now almost ready to go back into service – our Minister of Health and PHA chairman are encouraged to press forward heeding Sir Winston advice: “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks!”