00:00 So I'm walking out here with my wife who has just been diagnosed with dementia.
00:05 You give me a nine-month.
00:08 It's just one of the many issues the Joint Select Committee on Social Services and Public Administration is seeking to address.
00:15 As it relates to surgical procedures and have you encountered a challenge with accessing treatment or keeping appointments
00:23 due to the lack of equipment at a public health institution or staff shortages.
00:28 For many at the town hall meeting in Arema, the answer to the question was a resounding yes.
00:34 I need to get something called a dopamine stress echocardiogram done.
00:39 And the doctor who was attending to me told me that the person who, the doctor who was doing the test at Mount Oak left.
00:47 They haven't found a replacement doctor and I would have to go private to get that done.
00:52 And also echocardiogram, which is $700 and $2,500 for the other tests.
01:00 Some have also been experiencing challenges with getting medication.
01:04 This is the second month that I've gone for my medication for my high blood pressure and was told on E-C-DAT, we don't have any.
01:13 But you can buy it because I need it.
01:15 I have to now buy it privately in the same drugstore that is giving E-C-DAT.
01:20 Now this drugstore that I go to, they have several franchises.
01:25 So I'm saying, can you call the other franchise and see if they have it?
01:28 Therefore, I could pick it up there and they say, no, once you stop here, you can't go anywhere else.
01:34 And then they will tell you, oh, the machine not working, E-C-DAT system not working.
01:39 But there were those with good reviews.
01:41 They scanned on the next morning and I had to stay a week.
01:45 I was given subcutaneous clexane injections, which cost a lot on the open market.
01:52 I wish to say that I got wonderful treatment that night and during the seven day period at Mount Hope.
01:59 Members of the public also gave recommendations such as more night clinics to ease the patient load at the hospitals,
02:07 as well as a unique patient card and patient number whereby persons health records can be accessed at any public health institution.
02:16 Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
02:18 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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