Norman Scott, mayor of Spanish Town, is linking the poor conditions in public health facilities to the no-user fee policy. He is of the view that people who can afford it should pay. Medical personnel have also shared that the policy has impacted pharmaceutical and other medical supplies. 

Calls for no-user-fee policy review

1 Sep 2022/ Judana Murphy

SPANISH TOWN Mayor Norman Scott says the time has come for the Government to revisit the no-user-fee policy in Jamaica’s public hospitals.

“People go to hospital and they spend days on a bench before actually getting a bed. In some cases, before they get a bed, they have to go elsewhere to get scans and other tests done because they are not available in the public hospital,” the mayor lamented.

He was speaking at the St Catherine open house and exhibition for the rehabilitation of Jamaica’s public-health facilities on Wednesday.

In the 1980s, a number of developing countries introduced user fees as a means of improving the quality of their healthcare systems in order to increase utilisation of services.

After 24 years of user fees in public hospitals, on April 1, 2008, the Government of Jamaica introduced a no-user fee policy applicable at all public-health facilities across the island, except the University Hospital of the West Indies.

The policy was part of the Government’s commitment to universal access to healthcare at the primary-care level.

“We must accord some kind of fees for persons who can afford, so that those who can’t afford will have the system easier. It is something that the technocrats will have to do: look at the policy and see how best it can be implemented,” Scott said.

A Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) Health Access Study was conducted five years after the introduction of the no-user fee policy, following concerns about the state’s ability to adequately fund quality healthcare across the public system.

Doctors and nurses had outlined that the abolition of user fees had its most far-reaching impact on pharmaceutical supplies, followed by staff and medical supplies.

“I visit the hospital on a number of occasions, and I am really peeved at the level of care that is being given to patients. Something has to be done as it relates to persons getting better healthcare because the level of care is almost nil,” Scott said.

Over the years, health professionals have also urged the Government to review the no-userfee policy, saying that a shortage of funds was restricting the range and quality of services many facilities can provide.

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