HAVANA, February 4 (Amarilis Cortina Rey, Cuba-Verdad) Residents of the
Havana municipality of Arroyo Naranjo complain bitterly about shortcomings in
the delivery of medical services due mostly to administrative deficiencies.
Among the items irking patients:
Family doctors not available for office visits. Patients tell of doctors
who have been sent abroad under contract and have not been replaced. Others
complain of doctors that are attending training seminars or are out in the
field, making house calls. The problem is that they are anywhere except where
they are supposed to be, said one elderly woman.
Disruptions of the office routine. Inspections from the municipal and
provincial Health Ministry authorities are scheduled during regular office
hours, interrupting patient flow. Often patients complain that the doctors dont
have prescription pads as mandated by the Ministry and thus can see the patient
but cannot prescribe. A man who suffers from hypertension said: Sometimes one is
lucky in that the pharmacy has the medicine and, incredibly, everything gets
stuck because the doctor doesnt have the approved prescription pad as required
by Public Health.
Patients, however, think highly of physicians. The doctors are excellent,
said one patient who wouldnt give his name. They try really hard, but they lack
incentive, they are disenchanted and tired because of the low salaries the
government pays them and the low living standards to which they are exposed.
One doctor commented: We really dont want a raise anymore. All we want is
to be able to rest, just to rest, because in our profession one mistake could
cost somebody his life.
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