Gordon Robinson | The essence of diagnostics

It appears Chris Tufton can’t stop thinking about Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) or, more precisely, ways to avoid accepting responsibility for that expensive public health shambles.

On March 10, he was marking a new steam boiler installation at Sav-la-Mar hospital. But his mind seemed elsewhere: “No government from the past 20 years….can claim credit for doing what needed to be done at CRH except this government…. We weren’t just prepared to criticise the other side for the neglect. We were prepared to take the bull by the horns and fix the hospital once and for all.”

DWL.

Yep. Lots of bull! Much blowing of horns in the woodwind section.

He frequently blames “the other side” from whom he repeatedly reminds us he “inherited” the problem. As if he didn’t campaign vigorously for the work. Just two weeks later he was pressured at a town hall by Attorney-at-law Clayton Morgan who charged negligence contributed to the everlasting CRH work and massive cost over-runs. Instead of addressing Clayton’s concern, Tufton blamed negligence by “predecessors”.

Which predecessors?

Tufton: “I say this with a lot of sincerity [GR: Violins Maestro!]: You know what’s negligence? Negligence is the way we’ve treated the building over decades. I’ve correspondence pre-2007 [when] I was nowhere near the Health Ministry….

“The reality is, with all that neglect, [CRH] was almost in a coma. It was a sick building. That’s a diagnosis; the experts are here. It would’ve taken time so to say why it has taken a little longer than I’d hope is because we didn’t have the local expertise to fully diagnose the problem.”

But he had local AND foreign experts who diagnosed the problem from the outset but he preferred to tell us it was simply a ventilation issue. Re-read my three-part exposé on CRH ending May 6, 2018 ( Cornwall Sick of Tufton) where I extensively reproduce expert reports sent to MOH from 2016!

Instead of perpetually spinning to deflect responsibility, Tufton should travel to Apocrypha and retain renowned political Consultant Oma D’unn. Oma would advise him to buy a diagnostic computer and then tell Jack’s story:

One day, in line at the company cafeteria, Jack says to Mike ‘My elbow hurts badly. I better see a doctor.’

‘You don’t have to spend so much money,’ Mike replies. ‘There’s a diagnostic computer at the corner drugstore. Just give it a urine sample and, in 10m seconds, the computer will tell you what’s wrong and what to do. It costs $10; much cheaper than a doctor.’

So Jack places a urine sample in a jar and goes to the drugstore. He deposits $10. The computer asks for the sample. He pours it into the slot. Ten seconds later the computer ejects a printout: ‘You have tennis elbow. Soak your arm in warm water. Avoid heavy activity. It’ll improve in two weeks.’

That evening, an idle Jack began wondering if the computer could be tricked. He mixed some tap water, a stool sample from his dog, urine samples from his wife and daughter, and a sperm sample for good measure. Jack hurries back to the drugstore; deposits $10; and pours his concoction. The printout comes immediately:

‘1.Your tap water is too hard. Get a water softener. 2. Your dog has ringworm. Bathe him with anti-fungal shampoo. 3. Your daughter has a cocaine habit. Get her into rehab. 4. Your wife is pregnant...twin girls. They aren’t yours. Get a lawyer. 5. If your don’t stop playing with yourself, your elbow will never get better.’

Oma would explain that, in public health, early, accurate diagnosis is critical to longer life. The unfortunate reality is delayed diagnosis is experienced mainly by the poor and vulnerable. This was the conclusion of a data-based report in the Economist (March 9) on a recent increase in early deaths. So, as Julian Robinson’s excellent Budget presentation highlighted, more attention must be paid to raising living standards.

Early diagnosis; cheaper drugs/treatments; more diagnostic centres; and incorporating more private practitioners into public health will contribute more to Jamaicans’ long term health than distributing contracts like confetti to “inexperienced” contractors to fix a problem that could’ve been fixed in half the time for half the cost.

The Ministry is doing a better job in related issues of public-health interventions like anti-smoking and weight-loss programmes. It costs four times as much to gain an extra year of good health via clinical interventions than public health programmes.

Jamaica needs budgetary focus on low profile, high outcome health projects.

Peace and Love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com