Barbados?Health officials are again facing a challenge with non-nationals accessing the health care system.
Over the past three weeks individuals have been presenting themselves at the Accident & Emergency (A&E) and other departments of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) from other Caribbean islands, including the Dutch St Maarten without the prior knowledge or authorization of the hospital. Â
Minister of Health Donville Inniss said people were arriving at the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA), either by air ambulance or commercial flight, and going straight to the A&E Department to be seen – in some instances within half-hour.
Inniss revealed that some patients arrived with handwritten referral notes addressed to the QEH that were signed by a private doctor in their island, while others had referral letters to particular doctors at the QEH without their prior knowledge.
Read the fill story in today’s DAILY NATION.
