Rahael receives new medical equipment today

HEALTH MINISTER John Rahael will receive the first batch of new diagnostic equipment for the nation’s hospitals at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex today. The Minister told Newsday that included in this batch will be mammography machines, X-Ray machines and CT scanners. Rahael said the equipment arrived in the country on Christmas Eve and was made possible through the obtaining of a letter of credit from Citibank and a letter of comfort from the Ministry of Finance in early December. He said a second batch of diagnostic equipment is scheduled to arrive in Trinidad and Tobago during the first week in February and more equipment will arrive on a monthly basis until April. 

Rahael explained that this was part of the Health Ministry’s policy to set targets on a quarterly basis and “keep tracking on a daily basis” to ensure that the said targets are achieved in keeping with his personal quest “to provide tools and equipment” to the nation’s health care providers so they could do their job effectively. The Minister said the total cost for all the diagnostic equipment is $56 million and the equipment will be sent where they are most in need once they receive the necessary clearance. Rahael added that medical personnel are currently being trained to operate these new machines. Additionally, seven to eight new ambulances for the Emergency Health Services (EHS) will arrive in TT during the middle of this month. Their arrival forms part of an agreement between the Government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to provide the EHS with 40 new ambulances.  This particular initiative was started under former Health Minister Colm Imbert.

Rahael noted that maintenance of both the diagnostic equipment and the ambulances was a top priority for his Ministry and two companies have been identified to separately carry out these functions. The Minister said he recently met with officials at the South-West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) and the EHS to ensure that proper systems are in place for receipt of the first batch of new ambulances. Ironically, as Rahael receives the new diagnostic equipment today and with the arrival of new ambulances imminent, former Health Minister Dr Hamza Rafeeq will be asking him to tell Parliament on Friday about financial arrangements for both of these crucial items for the local health sector.