The decision by the South-West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA), to suspend its outpatient clinics, was done in a bid to rationalise the use of its staff.
That revelation was made in the Senate yesterday by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, in response to a question by Opposition Senator Wade Mark.
This past weekend, the SWRHA announced that it was temporarily suspending its face-to-face outpatient clinics, except the antenatal and childhood immunisation clinics and that patients would be contacted to get new prescriptions, clinic cards, referrals and blood test results.
When asked about this, Deyalsingh explained, “In times of emergency – including a global pandemic – one has to rationalise staff and use resources wisely.
He said “As we did last year, we have to free up staff to go to our Covid19 hospitals…But what we are doing is ensuring our patients are not adversely affected” as “emergency cases will be handled.
Deyalsingh added “We are keeping in contact with our patients and we are also doing automatic refills of prescriptions so our patients do not run out of medication.”
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