X-ray machines in St Kitts dysfunctional from 2 weeks: SKNLP

Basseterre, St Kitts: St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party have alleged that the X-ray machine at the government hospitals has gone out--function and people are forced to visit private radiologists.

In a post on Facebook, St Kitts and Nevis Labour party stated that the health-care system of St Kitts stood at the finest for the past six years, however now it is "number last".

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"The standard of health-care within our Federation is on a rapid decline. Gone are the days when other countries looked to St. Kitts and Nevis for exemplary leadership in health-care," added SKNLP.

Furthermore, the party added x-ray machine has been out of commission for over two weeks with no confirmation when the issue will be rectified.

It added that patients had been seen being transported from the hospital to the various private radiologists on a daily basis.

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" Every day, you can see sick patients being taken out of the ambulance and taken into the radiologist's office to be examined. This is a breach of patients' privacy. It is disgraceful and inhumane. No one should be exposed to that type of scrutiny. " the Facebook post added.

Besides this, they alleged hospitals do not even own the x-ray machine/CT scan machine, and the equipment is leased by a private company.

St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party stated that there is now a backlog of patients because the private radiologists are now overbooked due to the inconvenience the hospital has placed on the citizens.

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"Persons are forced to live on medication to ease the pain until they have an opportunity to find out the extent of their injuries," said SKNLP.

St Kitts and Nevis Labour which is the main opposition in St Kitts and Nevis, advised the government to focus on the health-care systems. They also asked the minister of health Akilah-Byron Nisbett.