The North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) strongly rejects suggestions of indifference and inaction arising from public statements made by Political Leader of the Patriotic Front, Ms. Mickela Panday, concerning conditions at the Accident and Emergency Department of the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC).
The Authority is particularly concerned that the circumstances surrounding a homeless man who required medical attention have become the subject of political controversy. The NCRHA maintains that vulnerable individuals deserve compassion, dignity and appropriate healthcare, and that their circumstances should never be exploited for political advantage.
Significantly, Ms. Panday herself acknowledged that the deterioration of the public healthcare system had been allowed to continue for decades, describing the situation as “a shame and a disgrace.” Her own words underscore the longstanding nature of the challenges confronting our healthcare institutions.
Decades of neglect cannot be reversed in just over one year. However, the NCRHA is determined to address these deficiencies and deliver the improvements that patients, healthcare professionals and the wider public deserve.
The NCRHA notes that many serious infrastructural and operational deficiencies persisted during the previous administration between 2015 and 2025. The current Chairman and Board of Directors, which assumed office in August 2025, have been confronting these inherited challenges while simultaneously ensuring that quality healthcare services are provided to hundreds of thousands of citizens.
Since assuming office, the current Chairman, Board, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Management have been advancing substantial improvements across the Authority, including upgrades to surgical theatres, expansion of clinical services to accommodate increasing patient demand, and improvements to healthcare infrastructure.
The NCRHA further wishes to place on record the enormous volume and complexity of healthcare services being delivered across its institutions, notwithstanding the longstanding infrastructural and operational challenges confronting the Authority.
Preliminary figures for the 2026 financial year reflect nearly 200,000 Accident and Emergency attendances, over 700,000 primary care attendances and almost 40,000 inpatient admissions across the Authority’s facilities.
Additionally, the NCRHA has undertaken over three million laboratory tests, 262,863 radiology examinations, including 48,768 CT scans, and approximately 22,500 surgical cases.
The Authority also continues to deliver highly specialised tertiary healthcare services, including renal transplantation and major cardiac surgery, with 10 renal transplants and 320 major bypass surgeries reflected in the preliminary figures.
At the EWMSC alone, outpatient clinics accommodate approximately 700 patients daily across at least 25 medical and surgical disciplines, including paediatrics, urology, neurology and orthopaedics, accounting for nearly 200,000 clinic visits annually.
The Accident and Emergency Departments also experience significant patient demand, with reported patient numbers approaching 200 at the Adult Emergency Department and 150 at the Paediatric Emergency Department, while nearly 70 patients from the Adult Emergency Department require admission daily.
These figures demonstrate the substantial scale and complexity of healthcare services being delivered by the NCRHA, thanks to the dedication of the doctors, nurses, support and technical staff, as well as all other healthcare workers.
While the Authority is fully aware of inherited challenges affecting the patient care experience, whether through mismanagement of expenditure, human resource and staffing deficiencies, resource and equipment misallocation and mismanagement, the Chairman, Board, CEO and Executive Management team have been working assiduously to improve and strengthen services with sustained management oversight.
The NCRHA firmly rejects any portrayal of its current leadership as detached from the realities facing patients or unwilling to confront the challenges within its institutions. The Board and Executive Management continue to engage healthcare professionals, assess operational deficiencies and implement measures aimed at improving patient flow, expanding service delivery and strengthening the overall patient experience.
The NCRHA will not minimise the challenges facing the healthcare system, nor should the substantial work being undertaken by its healthcare professionals and management teams be overlooked. Public scrutiny is important, but it must also recognise the scale of the services being delivered, the longstanding nature of the challenges and the measures currently being implemented to address them.
The Authority remains resolute in its commitment to correcting longstanding deficiencies, expanding healthcare services and improving the patient experience. Decades of neglect cannot be undone in two short years, but the work has begun, substantial improvements are being pursued, and the NCRHA, under its current leadership, is determined to get it done.