By: Spokesman Newsroom

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Wednesday 23rd April 2025)-Director of Institution at the Joseph N. France (JNF) General Hospital, Dr. Jenson Morton, is encouraging the public to utilize health centres for non-emergency issues as a way to help address hospital waiting time -a topic that draws criticism.

Speaking during an interview on Freedom FM’s ‘Issues’ programme on Wednesday 23rd April 2025 with host Austin Edinborough, Dr. Morton emphasized that health centres across the island are staffed with trained personnel capable of handling mild to moderate medical complaints.

“[At JNF]…any day in the week between the hours of 8:00am to 4:00pm, it could be a bit problematic but if it’s a Monday and it’s not a major complaint, it’s a bit of an issue, and the issue is just that the reason why we have health centres all over the island is because when you have a mild and moderate complaint, it’s really supposed to go to a health centre because a lot of those things either a nurse can deal with them directly or the nurse can deal with it with instruction from a physician…If further assessment is needed, the nurse can reach out to the physician, and a decision can be made to escalate the case to the hospital if necessary.”

He clarified that between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, there is always a District Medical Officer assigned to each health centre-even when it is not a clinic day.

“You can go. The nurses will see you. And if it’s deemed to be something very bad, the nurse might be the one to be able to identify right away, ‘Okay, this needs to go to the hospital’ or if it’s a gray area, they might call the physician to discuss it…”

Dr. Morton highlighted what efficiency would look like with the appropriate use of emergency services for minor ailments.

“If the full utilization of the health system in the proper manner was taking place, the overall wait time for persons that come with actual things that need a hospital setting would decrease,” he said, adding that the Ministry of Health is currently planning public awareness campaigns to help educate the public about how to use the health system efficiently.

“We are actually working on rolling out campaigns to help the general public better understand how to use the healthcare system efficiently. That way, we can minimize unnecessary crowding and improve the overall experience for everyone.”

According to Dr. Morton, hospital waiting times are monitored against regional standards such as those set by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which aim for patients to receive a definitive response-whether treatment, discharge, observation, or surgery-within four hours of arrival.

As understood, the PAHO framework looks at how quickly a person can enter a hospital and receive definitive care, meaning that within a four-hour window, the patient should be seen by a doctor and either begin treatment, be observed, discharged, admitted, or sent to surgery.

“We have usually been able to satisfy that nearly to its entirety because people in St.Kitts, they don’t want to wait four hours for something definitive, only now and again,” Dr. Morton stated.

He acknowledged, however, that Mondays and certain peak hours tend to be more challenging due to heavier patient loads.

On the topic of public complaints, Dr. Morton urged individuals to direct their concerns through proper administrative channels rather than airing them on social media.

“If persons have a complaint in the hospital, I’m kindly asking for persons to complain to the administration,” he pleaded. “Jumping to social media is a very ineffective and inefficient route to actually get your problem solved.”

Dr. Morton noted that despite the criticism, JNF performs relatively well in the region, especially in emergency cases.

“We are actually outperforming regional neighbors and that is when you’ll appreciate what we have in St. Kitts a little bit more,” he said.

Dr. Morton expressed optimism that with increased public understanding and more effective use of available services, St. Kitts can continue to improve its health system performance and patient satisfaction.

He issued a call for greater patience and understanding from the public while stressing that the administration is constantly working to deliver quality care.