Health Ministry To File Action Against Persons Who Abandon Relatives In Hospitals

 

Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness is intent on taking action against those who intentionally abandon their relatives after they are admitted to hospitals.

The Health and Wellness Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, made the announcement recently. He says the issue of caregivers failing to retrieve patients that have been deemed clinically fit for discharge is affecting the limited sources at Health Care Facilities. 

He says a number of hospital beds are occupied by persons who are unable to leave because their families are refusing to take them home. However, if the individual dies, families quickly turn up to retrieve the death certificate to claim insurance. He says the Ministry has recognised that this is affecting the waiting time at hospitals and will be taking two steps.

One includes moving some individuals to infirmaries and shelters. The second move is to take legal action against those family members who have intentionally abandoned their relatives.

Dr Tufton says if the court passes a ruling that is not in the ministry’s favour, the law will be changed. He says this is the only means of ensuring that there is change and that others can access health care. He says there are reports of individuals living on the wards because there is nowhere else to go.

The Health Minister shares that it is illegal to remove individuals from the hospitals , but action must be taken.

KHADIJAH THOMAS