Opposition Spokesperson on Health Dr Alfred Dawes says there needs to be an audit to see how many ventilators are currently available in the healthcare system.

There has been public sparring between portfolio minister Dr Christopher Tufton and Dawes following claims made by his shadow counterpart of a lack of resources in the healthcare system.

Dawes last week called on the Ministry of Health to disclose the whereabouts of the 105 ventilators reportedly donated to the Government by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), the European Union and concerned private individuals.

“We have made a claim that has been rebutted, that there is a shortage of ICU spaces or intensive unit spaces in the public health system, and that has been rebutted with the declaration that there are varying numbers of ventilators that we asked specifically about in the public health sector. We have seen numbers such as 122 ventilators, 105, 150, and one press release counting 54, including the University Hospital of the Hospital of the West Indies, which is not a part of the public health system,” Dawes said.

“We know for a fact that the ventilators donated during COVID as a result of the private sector organisation and the European Union, as well as well-thinking Jamaicans, are not in working order,” he added.

He said the Kingston Public Hospital has a maximum of eight working ventilators currently.

“We know that many of these ventilators are not in operation; they are either in boxes, they have not been commissioned, or they have not been cannibalised. One part has been taken from a ventilator to fix another ventilator that is not working, so we know for a fact that the donated ventilators are not operational,” the shadow minister mused at a press conference on Thursday (June 20).

“We are seeing what can be described as fuzzy math, where we do not know exactly how many are operational. I cannot tell you how many; the Ministry of Health and Wellness cannot tell you. What we need is an audit to see exactly how many ventilators are available island-wide and how many actual ICU and HDU spaces or high-dependency units are stepping down from ICUs. How many of these units are available island-wide for Jamaicans who need critical care?” Dawes queried.