Motions

WHEREAS prior to the introduction of the Regional Health Authorities it was recognized that the centralized approach to the management of the public health sector had resulted in allocative inefficiencies, limited managerial capacity and limited authority at the local level;

AND WHEREAS in 1994, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago introduced a comprehensive health sector reform program to address the institutional constraints that have frustrated many of the previous efforts at improving the delivery of public health care;

AND WHEREAS these reforms resulted in administrative decentralization of the health sector through the establishment of autonomous Regional Health Authorities governed by statutory non-executive boards supported by executive management teams.

AND WHEREAS in spite of significant increases in annual expenditure in the health sector, there still remains numerous problems with the delivery of health care;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate call on the Government to take immediate steps to conduct a comprehensive review of the Regional Health Authority system in the delivery of health care in Trinidad and Tobago.

(By Senator Dr. Victor Wheeler)