Triage process will result in wait times for some patients, says health minister
Published:Wednesday | January 22, 2025 | 12:06 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Despite recurring complaints about the continuous vexing issue of long wait times at hospitals, Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton is emphasising that the health sector’s triage system, which categorises patients according to the urgency of their needs, will result in unavoidable wait periods for some clients.
Addressing journalists following last Thursday’s official opening of the revamped Green Pond Health Centre in St James, Tufton said factors such as Jamaica’s current flu season will determine which patients will be examined before others.
“Depending on the season, like now where we have a flu season, you are going to have people waiting longer because of the triaging process and the bed count in a particular facility. There are very few hospitals right now that you go to, not just in Jamaica, but also in the world, where people do not wait, and there are some where you wait longer than others,” said Tufton.
Speaking specifically to St James’ Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), where restoration work is currently ongoing and due for completion in June 2026, Tufton said the facility should not be singled out for complaints about long wait times.
“I do not want the impression to be created that waiting is unusual to the CRH and, because the CRH is under repairs, that that is why people are waiting [for treatment]. They would have been waiting more than likely anyway, in a case where you have a spike in demand,” said Tufton.
“When people come into the hospital, the doctors and nurses would triage to determine the life-saving procedures that may be required for the worst patients.So, a gunshot victim, a car accident victim, or a heart attack victim would get through, and that is standard procedure. More often than not, for the people who are waiting, it is because of a technical assessment by the hospital that those persons, while ill and requiring attention, are not as serious as those who are before them or who came in after them with a more serious condition,” Tufton added.
As recently as 2021, hospital managers were blamed for lengthy wait times for medical treatment at hospitals, with prospective patients having to spend days sitting in chairs or wheelchairs, or in some cases lying on the floor, while awaiting available bed spaces.
Tufton noted that the Ministry of Health and Wellness’s ongoing thrust to revamp Jamaica’s 325 community health centres under its Operation Refresh programme is intended to provide residents with accessible medical treatment without having to go to their parishes’ hospitals first.
“What is happening in the population profile is that Jamaicans are getting sick before they go to hospital, and are getting life threateningly sick. If we do not enhance the attention given in the community at health centres, like here at Green Pond, it will be an ongoing spiral,” said Tufton.