SPOTLIGHT ON THE HEALTH SECTOR

[00:00:00] Speaker A: The best insight, instant feedback, accountability. The all new talk radio freedom 106.5. But at this time we turn our attention to the Minister of Health, Minister Terrence Dal Singh, the candidate for is it Arangwa St Joseph and he's under the PNM and he's here. We get set to talk about some of the health issues or health accomplishments that the government would have made over the last five years. Minister Dhyal Singh, welcome to Freedom Studios. Good morning to you, sir. [00:00:30] Speaker B: Good morning Devi and welcome. Welcome to me, first time here. Thank you for having me and good morning to all your listeners. [00:00:38] Speaker A: I mean it would be remiss of me if I didn't ask you about the election campaign and how the trail is going. What is the feedback, what you're getting in the constituency of Orangwell. [00:00:45] Speaker B: So the campaign is going good, I expect to be victorious, but a lot of hard work has to be done, lot of hard slogging. So the work continues. By the grace of God and with the support of the people I have served over the past 12 years or so with a degree of positivity, I think they are seeing the results of my work. So we wait and see. [00:01:10] Speaker A: Minister Dial saying you have been holding down this portfolio for quite some time and I must commend you on your comments in today's papers as it relates to you wishing the former AG good luck. Any thoughts on that matter? [00:01:20] Speaker B: Yeah, we in the pnm, we have a different code of morality when it comes to these things. Mr. Jeremy wants to associate himself with the most corrupt government that this country has ever seen. That's his choice. And as I said, if he finds comfort in the company of Philip Alexander, Ansel Roget, Arnold Roberts, if he finds comfort in the company of people like that, I wish him all the best. [00:01:51] Speaker A: But was it a surprise to you all? Did you all get any sort of notions coming from within that was he an active member of the pnm for. [00:01:58] Speaker B: That matter, not any time I have been Minister of Health, I have not seen him at any functions, heard about him. But as I said, we have a constitution in this country that guarantees freedom of association and freedom of speech. So let the man do what he has to do. I disagree with his choice of political friends because I have inherent difficulty with the likes of Anil Roberts, Wade, Mark Rudolph, Munilal, Philip Alexander. So if Mr. Jeremy finds comfort in that company, so be it. [00:02:35] Speaker A: One of the things I want to touch on with you this morning, Minister, is. Oh, one texter is asking me that, but we'll get to that question later on. I thoroughly benefited from a drive that you all did for men. [00:02:49] Speaker B: Was that the prostate screen, prostate screening. [00:02:52] Speaker A: Let's talk a little bit about that initiative and the results that you would have been yielded by your ministry. [00:02:57] Speaker B: So that was part of our non communicable diseases drive. NCDs, yes. When we think NCDs, we think the two most common ones, diabetes and hypertension. However, NCDS is broader than that. It's diabetes, it's hypertension, it's mental health, it's cancers. And in the past, men were reluctant to be screened for prostate cancer because they did not want to undergo the digital rectal exam for whatever reasons. We could talk about that, but for a short conversation, they just did not want to do that. They had problems being physically examined like that. So what I decided to do, I scanned the environment and I found that there was a simple blood test. You take a finger prick. Similarly you do for a diabetes test, put it on this cassette and you get a reading within two minutes. That reading will tell you if you're a candidate for further examination. And that was widely successful. Men gravitated towards it in their thousands. So now thousands of men who previously did not know the state of their prostate health like you now know. And knowledge is the first component of winning a fight. You can't defeat something if you don't know about it. So that simple prostate test was a game changer in how we engage with men to get their understanding of their prostate health. [00:04:37] Speaker A: Minister dialsing as we talk about some of the initiatives accredited to you under this administration, we talk about there's something known as the BFHI which is the Baby Hospital Initiative. Do you care to share some insight on that, please. [00:04:51] Speaker B: So again that has to do to our NCD trust, Non communicable diseases. One of the reasons in Trinidad and Tobago globally for high rates of childhood obesity and childhood diabetes is that when a woman is pregnant and she has uncontrolled diabetes, she will give birth to a big heavy child because that child is growing in a glucose rich environment. Okay, Right. So the baby Friendly hospital initiative starts in the womb where we track mothers and their what we call gestational diabetes, diabetes during pregnancy and you hopefully give birth to a healthier lower weight child. The Baby Friendly hospital initiative BFHI now is the instigate breastfeeding as early as possible because one of the drawbacks of modern living is the substitution of breast milk with formula. Formula does not have the natural antibodies, the correct fat content that babies need. It is not A substitute for breast milk. And what has happened in this country, because of the aggressive promotion of of formula and the advent of working mothers, mothers are not breastfeeding as early as possible and for as long as possible. So the baby friendly hospital initiative was to get mothers to instigate breastfeeding within 24 hours of giving birth. Before the initiative, 25% of women were breastfeeding early in our hospitals. [00:06:38] Speaker A: Okay. [00:06:38] Speaker B: After the initiative, it has moved to 95%. Whoa. Yes. Yes. And the population will not hear these good stories because good stories don't sell. So we have moved from 25% early initiation of breastfeeding to 95%. And what we encourage mothers to do after you are discharged in our postnatal clinics is to continue that breastfeeding for as long as humanly possible. Ideally, you should breastfeed exclusively for the first two years of that baby's life. Ideally, But I don't know how old you are. But in my day, our mothers, many mothers did not work, so they were at home. So they were able to breastfeed for longer, for longer periods. But now with a lot of working. [00:07:28] Speaker A: Mothers, you have three months at home. [00:07:31] Speaker B: So if we could get you at least for six, three to six months, that is still a big help in reducing infant diabetes, childhood diabetes, because a diabetic mother, the chances of you giving birth to a diabetic child raises significantly. And then if you raise that child on formula, you are literally dooming that child to become diabetic, overweight, unhealthy. So that is what BFHI is about. It's a PAHO initiative. [00:08:08] Speaker A: I saw that. [00:08:09] Speaker B: Yes. [00:08:10] Speaker A: And let's talk about the Sandy Grande Hospital because there's so many things I want to cover with you in a very short space of time, as you do have other things to visit this morning. Let's talk about the Sangre Grande Hospital and that whole infrastructure that you all designed there and what sort of equipments and how you know how up to the times is it. [00:08:27] Speaker B: Yeah. So. So let me explain. In healthcare system, we categorize healthcare by levels. Primary healthcare, secondary healthcare, tertiary healthcare, primary, secondary, tertiary. So your health centers, your first port of call, that is primary health healthcare, if you need to be referred to an institution like a hospital, that is secondary health care. [00:08:51] Speaker A: Okay. [00:08:51] Speaker B: And then if you need more advantage, advanced intervention like cardiac surgery, kidney transplant, that's a tertiary hospital. So Eric Williams, Port of Spain General San Fernando. These are tertiary hospitals where the most advanced care goes. Sandy Grande Hospital is a one of a cluster of secondary hospitals like Point Fortin, like Arima, like sangre grande, like St. James. Okay, so Sangre Grande is one of our Sangre Grande Point 14. Arima is one of our star secondary hospitals. It is providing excellent service, as is Pointfortin, as is Arima. So it is not only a building, it is what is going on in the building now. And what we are piloting now and doing now is a total transformation from paper based systems to paper light and paperless systems using technology. So the days of writing down notes is being phased out. One of the biggest complaints your callers will have if you open up the lines is that when they go to a clinic, their file is lost. They can't find a physical file. Now we are digitizing files, so we are moving to one patient, one record, one view. Another example for Sangre Grande. You may take a mri. Your wife, mother may take a mammogram in a hospital. They go down south, they fall ill. Before this year, south could not read your radiological examinations. They will have to retake a mri. Retake a mri. What we have done now, we have linked all the hospitals so that I could see all your investigations across the board, regardless of where you are. So all your CTs, MRIs, mammograms, X rays can be seen by doctors with the appropriate clearance across the system. We are doing the same thing with your blood work. I can see it across the system so I don't have to retake blood. Redo lab work, reuse resources, reuse reagents. And then we are piloting what we call now E prescriptions, electronic prescriptions. So when you visit the doctor, he writes an electronic prescription, it goes straight down to the pharmacy. And by the time you reach here, your wait in line is much lower. But what happens is now we have a digital record of your history that is important so that we could see your history very easily online. [00:11:46] Speaker A: All right, Minister, I hear you and I will. Let me see what's happening this morning. All right, so we'll open the lines this year. I want to share some, some personal thoughts with you on my experience within the last couple of days. I had the. I had to visit last week, just before the sea, I think was Wednesday and Friday. I had to visit Friday. Friday is when I went through it. Wednesday, Friday. So I went Wednesday and I to see a doctor with my son. I went to the clinic, the health center in Mount Hope, which is by the boss chute area there. [00:12:25] Speaker B: Right. [00:12:26] Speaker A: And Minister, there was a television series on TV called Undercover Boss. Okay, what Undercover Boss was Is. [00:12:35] Speaker B: Oh, yes, yes, yes, I know, right. [00:12:37] Speaker A: I thought about you and I say, minister, you need to do something because you have just itemized something there that I have seen in direct opposite to what you just said. Because I got to the hospital, I had to take a number, I had to wait to be called to a window. By the time I get called to the window, my son's sitting down there, he's a bit of discomfort outside of the AC working real nice, you know, AC cold. I took him over to the window, register him written, nothing was typed up, written. And then from that point I was told to go to the next area and I had to sit down there and I. That visit took me three hours. Right now I'm looking there, person's just there. By the time I moved from the triage in the front to the another waiting area, midsection of the cell center, I had to now go down to the end where I will actually see a doctor and then add another wait process. My entire thing was 3 hours and 15, 2 hours and 10 minutes thereabouts when I walked out of the establishment with my son. And I purposefully did that because I wanted the experience. On Friday, I returned because I needed to get a letter that the doctor did not give me when I asked him for it on Wednesday. So I had to come back Friday. But I understood why the rhetoric to go through to get that letter to me. They told me two weeks, it will take two weeks. I could not understand. I made no noise. You know, some people make a noise. I made no noise. And I'm telling you this story. This is my personal experience. And this happened last week, right? Friday I was supposed to be at work here for 12. I got in a little late because of another three hour wait for this letter. So when I went back, I literally had to speak to a supervisor now to help me. And I had to show them the prescription that the doctor gave me on Wednesday, which was written. I got some. Half the medication was at the pharmacy, the next half had to go and purchase outside. So I took that experience as well. I didn't have a problem. Sometimes drugs run out. You didn't stock baggage shelves, it didn't reach in time and I had to go outside. I go outside. But I did get some. And then when I went back to get the letter that I needed for my son, it took me 2 hours, 50 minutes. Less than 3 hours. 2 hours, 50 minutes. And they had to call a typist from another department from up the hospital because the one for this section was ill that day. So I'm asking you now, with those type of challenges, how are you? What initiatives is the government employing outside of these beautiful thoughts of one view, one patient, one file, I love that. But us, we the citizens, when we face this type of dilemma. [00:15:14] Speaker B: So it will take some time to roll out the technology to all, but the process has started. The reason why in 2025 the process is delayed is because we lost three years during COVID Right? This process was supposed to start in 2020. But you understand what happened in 2020. [00:15:36] Speaker A: You had at least two years downtime. [00:15:38] Speaker B: So we had two years downtime. So we are two years late in rolling out this technological revolution. And I admit that because during COVID my focus was only on Covid and keeping the health sector, which did not collapse like other countries, up and running. So that if you needed care, you could have gotten care. Let me ask you a question. What was the issue you had to take your son there for? [00:16:05] Speaker A: There was something with his respiratory trachealer, what they call a tract infection. The doctor ended up diagnosing. [00:16:12] Speaker B: Was it a life threatening emergency? [00:16:13] Speaker A: It was not life threatening. [00:16:15] Speaker B: That is the issue. I remember former Minister Fouad Khan saying he was pulling out his hair trying to explain to citizens that in an accident and emergency setting, it is not first come, first serve. It is worse come, first serve. The triage process is to determine who is in the most danger of losing their life now. And we treat that person first. So that is why you have to wait. The person coming in with a gunshot wound doesn't have to wait. The person coming in with a heart attack will be treated early. But if you come in with an infection that is not a immediate life threatening situation, the mother bringing in a child with an asthma attack who will die within five minutes because they can't breathe will be treated first. And that is why in that setting, the persons who are not in immediate danger of losing their lives will have to wait. We follow something called the CTA system, Canadian Triage Acuity System, where when you are triaged, you are triad level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Levels 1 and 2 levels 1 have to be seen immediately. That is life threatening. In your son's case, it was not immediately life threatening. People have to understand in an emergency you have to prioritize to save lives. So I hope that gives you some level. [00:17:56] Speaker A: It does. [00:17:57] Speaker B: Explanation. [00:17:58] Speaker A: It does, it does. And, and I didn't tell you it because I wanted to to downplay or, you know, come at you for the health crisis or the Health situation in the country. [00:18:08] Speaker B: It was, let me see, there's no health crisis in the country. [00:18:11] Speaker A: Right, That's. [00:18:11] Speaker B: I don't know why you went down that road. [00:18:13] Speaker A: My apologies. But to say that it was bad health care I received, what I looked at is the wait time and the amount and nobody saying anything. So as you explain that we get past that now, would you say that we have competent doctors in Trinidad and Tobago? [00:18:27] Speaker B: Absolutely. I don't know why you would even raise that. [00:18:29] Speaker A: Well, here's why. We've time and time again would have seen government ministers and persons in high office when they have to do their checkups and their annual checkups and their this, they leave the country and they go abroad. [00:18:39] Speaker B: It has nothing to do with competency. A lot of time it has to do with privacy. Repeat, it has nothing to do with competency. Very often it has to do with privacy and personal choice. I'll give you an example. When I was diagnosed with dengue becoming a minister, the first time I was in Port of Spain Hospital, you know what a newspaper journalist wrote, she was able to get my files from Port of Spain General Hospital and displayed my personal medical records in the newspaper. [00:19:14] Speaker A: But isn't that unethical? [00:19:17] Speaker B: Very. [00:19:18] Speaker A: Isn't the hospital bounded by confidentiality? [00:19:20] Speaker B: Very. But even if you got it, even if you got it, you're going to write an article about me in the newspaper. Wow. You see, you all don't know the whole stories. You will just assume things. [00:19:37] Speaker A: Well, Minister, we have to go on perception. If perception is not backed with fact, then perception becomes reality. So if we are in the absence. [00:19:46] Speaker B: Of information, I'm glad we're having this conversation. [00:19:48] Speaker A: Right. So in the absence of information, perception will become reality. [00:19:52] Speaker B: So very often it could be a privacy issue or personal choice. Everybody has personal choice. [00:19:59] Speaker A: So it's not that the I choose. [00:20:01] Speaker B: To use the public health care system. That that is my personal choice. [00:20:05] Speaker A: Cause I chose to use it that day too. [00:20:06] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:20:07] Speaker A: It was a choice. I wanted to go through it and you know, sit and look at the experience. As a radio presenter and a morning show host, I pay attention to detail and everything and I would often travel sometimes. Look, just to get the experience. [00:20:19] Speaker B: I had to go to Eric Williams at the start of the year because I was coughing a lot whilst I was being treated. The media started to call me and wanted to know what I was being treated for. I am being treated, but the media is calling me while I am being treated because they heard I was there and could I tell them what I am being Treated for Minister. [00:20:45] Speaker A: Why I am there Minister, you would get those calls and I would be very, very honest with you. When you have entered the life of public service and you become a minister in this country, whereas we will be driving down the road and see a man urinating on some lamppost and pass him straight if we catch you doing that same thing. That is a headline in the newspaper. [00:21:04] Speaker B: Rightly so. [00:21:05] Speaker A: And rightly so. So it comes with the job that you have accepted. [00:21:09] Speaker B: I tend to draw a line at medical issues. I think my medical issue once it does not impact on my ability to perform my job. There are some medical issues that should remain, you know well again, while I. [00:21:30] Speaker A: Would appreciate what you're saying there, I. I cannot agree a hundred because there are certain things that goes to the territory as your job. Maybe the media called you because they were concerned for your health. [00:21:40] Speaker B: They wanted a story they need. [00:21:41] Speaker A: Well, it's a story. Anything you do help ministers wait until after. Why is who get it first. We hot off the press. Minister Dalcig is at the. At the Pongtube Hospital. [00:21:53] Speaker B: He. [00:21:53] Speaker A: He actually went there earlier. Serious? I could imagine the newsroom going abuzz with the news editor saying olia, get on that story one time. Make sure he's really there. [00:22:01] Speaker B: At least let me be treated first now. [00:22:03] Speaker A: Well, boy, if you could catch your wiley doctor is checking your heart and sounding you and get a picture of that. [00:22:08] Speaker B: We good to go. [00:22:09] Speaker A: We good to go. Nice one. You can't vex with us in the media. [00:22:12] Speaker B: I like it. I like it. [00:22:13] Speaker A: You can't vex with us in the media. So with this being said, I will ask callers to be respectful. You're free to voice your opinions as strongly as you want, but please be respected and be mindful. We have the minister in studio with us so you can ask your questions as open the phone lines. Hello. Good morning. Hello. Good morning. Hello. [00:22:30] Speaker C: Good morning, Davy. And good morning, Minister. Minister, a couple days ago your colleague in the parliament from Sicaria blamed you for 19 deaths that took place at the Miku. Now I know that your other colleague, Dr. Fouad Khan, when the issue started, came out in defense of the nurses at the care center and he went on to explain that babies born under these conditions is really and truly a trying condition and it's very difficult now. Do you think in a circumstance such as this medical situation and we are dealing with something as a professional thing, this author find itself on the platform as you being responsible for those 19 deaths? I listen to your comments. [00:23:19] Speaker B: Well, first of all it's not 19, it's about seven. We have a way of exaggerating, but because the matter is before the court, I am being respectful of the legal process and my parliamentary colleague, who is using this for political advantage. I will not put the parents of those babies through this on a political platform. A legal process has started. As a Minister of Health, I prefer to let the legal process work because I don't want to prejudice the case one way or the other. But I understand where you are coming from. And I must say your perspective is a very mature, your respectful perspective. And, sir, I thank you for that. [00:24:16] Speaker A: Thank you very much, Minister. Now, I'm not sure because I was actually attending to you a few moments ago. Was he talking about the San Fernando? [00:24:22] Speaker B: No. All right, so Port of Spain. [00:24:24] Speaker A: All right. So recently San Fernando Hospital came into the spotlight for at least two infants dying or one being left abandoned and one dying, parents saying negligence and that kind of thing. Now, what happens in a case like that with the Ministry now people on the radio station, they went to Tong on it. The Minister had to get involved. And I mean, as the line Minister, when you see these stories, the video. I woke up that morning to a video of a woman lying with a baby that was premature, I think seven months or so. And when I read some stories and, you know, did some fact finding and research on the matter, they say under those conditions, those children don't really survive. [00:25:01] Speaker B: They don't. [00:25:02] Speaker A: So they leave the mother and the child to comfort and the baby passes. [00:25:07] Speaker B: And that is correct. We need to treat these things with information and compassion. What happened? And Southwest put out a release, a snapshot was taken totally out of context and that bred an entire story. You let the mother and child have a moment, Let them have that moment. But premature babies, unfortunately, many don't survive. Many babies are born with congenital defects, congenital heart defects, underdeveloped brain. But unfortunately, we have adopted an attitude that everything, everybody, every child must survive. We have one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world. Unfortunately, you have something called spontaneous abortions. That is when the mother's body, by design, by God or whatever, realizes that that embryo development, that baby development is what we call unviable. And the body has a way of rejecting that by having a spontaneous abortion. [00:26:23] Speaker A: Which can be seen otherwise known as a miscarriage. [00:26:26] Speaker B: Correct. [00:26:26] Speaker A: Right. [00:26:27] Speaker B: Is the body's defense mechanism to prevent a baby being born that will not have a good life, a sustainable life. That is nature's way of dealing with these things. But again, I want to commend you now for not jumping to the conclusions that other people jump, because you understood, you researched it and you understood what was happening. [00:26:55] Speaker A: I did. [00:26:55] Speaker B: So just like the caller who dealt with compassion and information, you are doing the same thing. And again, I want to congratulate you on that. [00:27:04] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Minister. I did research it and you know, when we get the other stories, I looked at the video and it did give a picture. Yes, it did paint a picture, but in isolation. [00:27:15] Speaker B: Right. [00:27:16] Speaker A: So that's a segment. And I often alluded to the point of a person taking a picture attempting to hold the moon. [00:27:21] Speaker B: Yes. [00:27:21] Speaker A: Based on the angle of the camera, it would look that way. But if you look at the whole. Exactly, the entire 360, you would realize that's not the case. [00:27:27] Speaker B: See, context is important. And what happens, and this is not a Trinidad and Tobago thing, what happens around the world, especially with social media and camera phones and so on, we take a snapshot of something and then we imagine a story around it. But what was happening in that case? Exactly what you said. But then it was a moment of compassion. [00:27:50] Speaker A: But is there probabilities and possibilities that babies do survive under those conditions? Because when I looked at it, the percentage of that happening could be at least 8%, which is significantly. I mean, 1% chance of survival is good enough for me. To try and save your life? [00:28:02] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. Yeah. Right. [00:28:04] Speaker A: So if I have a 8% worldwide on a global scale, 8% of those children surviving could survive and live healthy lives. Why would we not make attempts? [00:28:14] Speaker B: Well, you see, I don't want to go into the mother's medical history. [00:28:17] Speaker A: Okay? Understood, Understood. [00:28:19] Speaker B: And that's the disadvantage. I will always have understood people and the media could say everything, but I am bound by patient confidentiality. [00:28:27] Speaker A: Noted. So in the events of parents claiming negligence at the hospitals that their baby die given the wrong painkillers, what is the Ministry's stance on this? How do you get involved? Because they say the buck stops with the Minister, the line minister. But if you are the minister and under the employ of you, of your ministry, these persons are operating. Look where you are this morning. If something is happening at San Fernando, you are here. Even if it's right in Port of Spain, General, you are here. So we can't blame you for a doctor's negligence there. But what is the Ministry's position thereafter? [00:28:58] Speaker B: So again, you are making the assumption and you are coloring the entire health system with negligence. You are failing to admit or recognize that many good things happen. [00:29:11] Speaker A: I'm getting to that point. But I just wanted to ask you. [00:29:13] Speaker B: However, in those cases, however, negligence has to be proven in a court of law. [00:29:18] Speaker A: That's the point. [00:29:18] Speaker B: It is not for the layperson to decide Negligence. Negligence is a medical legal term. And very often our doctors and nurses who come out every day to do their very best, just because something may go awry, things happen. It doesn't mean we are negligent. [00:29:43] Speaker A: Which one of your hospitals have the best neonatal care? [00:29:47] Speaker B: Port of Spain General Hospital. It is the main level for neonatal in the country. The worst cases come to Port of Spain. And that is the point we need to understand stand Port of Spain. The weakest, most premature, most challenged babies from both the private sector and the public sector come to Port of Spain. The private sector only has one nicu. Be know that I did not. [00:30:19] Speaker A: But what I did know is that you will spend your thousands of dollars and if something is not right, they'll have to send you to Port of Spain to save your life. At the end of the day, that's what is most crucial. I take another call with you this morning. Minister Hel. Good morning. [00:30:33] Speaker B: Morning Mr. Good morning sir. Taking my call. [00:30:36] Speaker A: Mr. Murray, thank you very much for. [00:30:38] Speaker D: Calling and I do wish this party the best in the election. But Mr. Minister, I have a problem where the what they call the Children's Hospital. Could you explain to us the reason and what state, the so called Children Hospital and what state you met it in, did it had all the equipment and that same NICU section, does it also have one of that there? Could you explain that to us please? [00:31:08] Speaker B: Sure. So when we came into office, the Coover Hospital was still a construction site. UDICOT only turned it over in June of 2017. The Coover Hospital is currently being used. As a matter of fact, on a walk in my constituency yesterday, a constituent told me she got cataract surgery there and the service was impeccable. So the hospital is divided into, let's say two main sections. The teaching section, which UWE is currently using to teach programs like pharmacy, nursing and so on, that has been fully utilized. We had used it as our focal point for Covid. We actually had to put in more equipment during COVID to support the COVID patients. Contrary to what the leader of the opposition is saying, not one piece of equipment has ever been moved out of COVID And the proof of that is when a joint select committee actually visited COOVER some years ago. And they could verify that it is currently being used to manage our backlog of cataract surgeries Hundreds of cataract surgeries are being performed there. The entire radiological department is being used. So it is incorrect to see that the Couva hospital is not being used. However, the Couva Hospital before COVID was supposed to be handed over to the University of the West Indies to do research, just like how they have in Mona, Jamaica, following that model where Mona, Jamaica has their own hospital because research is important and the teaching of students is important. So recover hospital is being used. We did not touch one thing. We did not remove anything and it is being used. [00:33:13] Speaker A: So currently the hospital is operable? [00:33:15] Speaker B: Yes, it is being used. I just gave you an example where cataract surgeries are being performed here. [00:33:20] Speaker A: Now, the ministry received donation of about eight healthcare robots funded by UN India, UN Development Partnership Fund. What is these robots about? What are they doing? [00:33:30] Speaker B: So these robots were distributed to several hospitals that have the infrastructure to support it. They are being used. Remember I explained our technological thrust earlier? They are being used at that level to further deepen the thrust towards technology. So that the experience you had with paper, I want that to be a thing of the past. Because I said before you spoke, one of the biggest complaints and a valid complaint is when your paper files are lost. That is a valid complaint. And we have started the process, but we are two years behind schedule because of COVID Right. What we are doing now with the robots and artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is digitizing our records so that when you go back for a letter, your experience will be a more positive one. That is what technology will do together with artificial intelligence so that the doctor has not. Doesn't have to write again. He is speaking and his words are being automatically transcribed by AI into text and it goes into your file. But it will take time for that to filter down to all 109 health centers. We are focusing now on the hospitals secondary and the tertiary. Tertiary level. Yes. [00:34:57] Speaker A: Noted. Hello, good morning. Very quickly, please. [00:35:01] Speaker E: Hello, good morning. [00:35:02] Speaker A: Good morning. [00:35:03] Speaker B: Morning, sir. [00:35:07] Speaker E: Thank you. [00:35:08] Speaker B: I just did. [00:35:08] Speaker A: He just did. [00:35:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:09] Speaker A: I don't know if he wasn't paying attention. Good morning. [00:35:11] Speaker B: Thank you, lady. [00:35:12] Speaker C: Good morning. [00:35:12] Speaker A: Good morning. [00:35:13] Speaker C: The caller before this caller here asked the minister what state he met Kuba Hospital. When he went to the office, he jumped straight into Covid. So he didn't up and over and answer the question what state he met at. Thank you. [00:35:26] Speaker A: All right. [00:35:27] Speaker B: Well, it was a hospital. It was a new hospital. Yeah, that was the state. [00:35:31] Speaker A: Or was it under construction still? [00:35:33] Speaker B: That's what I said. It was under construction when we came into office. It was still a construction site. That was the state we met it in. It was a construction site until June 2017. And I, I think I said that you did. [00:35:48] Speaker A: Somebody says a doctor's oath dictates that he aggressively tries every effort to save life. And I think that is illuminating from the story. But to answer that texter's question, the doctors will have the file. So they would know. [00:35:59] Speaker B: Yes. [00:36:00] Speaker A: Whether it's worth going the extra distance or what they need to do at that point in time. Why does consultants work privately on public time? I guess that is something that you all are trying to. [00:36:09] Speaker B: I could explain. Yeah. So this. And I want to thank your texter for that. When we came into office in 2010, we commissioned the Wealth Report to investigate that same issue. The wealth. The people on the Welch Report could not come to a conclusion of this issue of whether consultants should be working publicly and privately at the same time to solve the issue. Then Prime Minister Dr. Rowley suggested to the parliament that this goes before a joint select committee, opposition government, independent bench, so that the public witnesses people can come before a joint select committee and let us thrash out this issue of consultants working in both public and private. Unfortunately, the leader of the opposition did not agree to that joint select committee, which was the avenue to do just what your text is saying. So what is happening now? Their terms of contract allows them to work both publicly and privately. That is their terms of contract. [00:37:25] Speaker A: And we can't fix that until we need our. [00:37:28] Speaker B: Well, no, no, no. We could have fixed it in 20. We came into office in 2015 in. By 2016 when the Welsh Report came in. And we wanted it to go to a joint select committee, but the opposition opposed. But the opposition opposed that for. And I know the reason why. But let's not go into that. [00:37:49] Speaker A: When is open heart surgery going to be done at the Port of Spain General Hospital? [00:37:53] Speaker B: So when the new central block is up and running, there's a cardiac unit being put in there. So when that gets in there and we start to phase in those services that will be taking place there in the future. [00:38:06] Speaker A: Final call. Good morning. Very quickly, please. [00:38:10] Speaker E: Morning. The doctor Dial Singh. [00:38:13] Speaker B: Mr. Dial Singh. [00:38:15] Speaker E: When you hear he talk, he talks like a doctor. [00:38:18] Speaker A: If he's in the Ministry of Health, I would imagine he would. [00:38:21] Speaker E: That. Mr. Yassin. [00:38:23] Speaker B: Yes, sir. [00:38:24] Speaker E: Let's say your budget is $100, right? [00:38:28] Speaker B: Yes. [00:38:30] Speaker E: How much do you spend on recurrent expenditure and how much you spend on capital development? Thank you. [00:38:37] Speaker B: Excellent question. Hey. That has to be the question of the day. So the Ministry of health gets an allocation roughly of about $6.5 billion a year. Of that, about 80% goes to the RHA's. Of that 80%, about 80% of that is used to pay wages and salaries. Recurrent expenditure. Do you know that? [00:39:01] Speaker A: Well, you know educators on that we. [00:39:04] Speaker B: Have 22,000 persons on staff. [00:39:07] Speaker A: Look at that number. [00:39:09] Speaker B: 22,000 people depend on the RHA and the Ministry for their monthly salary. When you multiply that by the number of dependents that each healthcare workers has, we are responsible for the welfare of about 100,000 people, 22,000 employees. And let's say each one has three benefits. That's about 100,000 people. And 80% of our allocation goes towards wages and salaries and recurrent expenditure. [00:39:42] Speaker A: Noted. Minister, did you get back your beer? [00:39:45] Speaker B: No, sir. Never? No, sir. It was a big emotional loss to me. Not a material loss because that bearer had a lot of emotional attachments, I would imagine. [00:39:56] Speaker A: Minister, I want to thank you very much for passing through here on Freedom. I'm going to take you to our sister stations now, but I do thank you very much for sharing these light moments and of course bringing us up to speed. [00:40:05] Speaker B: I want to thank you, but most importantly, your callers ask intelligent, responsible questions and most sincerely call us. Thank you for that. And we were able to educate the public this morning. [00:40:18] Speaker A: And that's most important. It will be remiss of me if I let you go from here asking you about the memes. [00:40:23] Speaker B: You like it? I am the most meme person in Trinidad to be. It started with COVID It started with COVID But then that. You know what? I love it. I embrace it. I love it. [00:40:37] Speaker A: That's good, that's good. [00:40:38] Speaker B: I love it. [00:40:38] Speaker A: And all the best to you. [00:40:39] Speaker B: Thank you, my friend. [00:40:40] Speaker A: I, I mean I wanted to ask you about developments within the, the constituency that you are holding. But another time for that conversation, folks, we take a quick commercial break. When we come back, your news to the top is up next. The best insight, instant feedback, accountability, the all new Talk Radio Freedom 106.5.