The Opposition says Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton should get the appropriate funding for immediate maintenance work at public hospitals.

Spokesman on Health Dr. Morais Guy says poor service quality is affecting all Jamaicans, particularly those who cannot afford private health care.

Dr. Guy is expressing deep concern about new reports emanating from some public hospitals, indicating that there is a state of continued decline in patient care, service quality and maintenance of an already ageing infrastructure.

Dr. Guy in a statement says the Health Minister must take full responsibility for the deteriorating conditions at these facilities.

He notes that the Health Minister must ensure that the appropriate administrative and governance arrangements are maintained in all hospitals to deliver modern healthcare services.

The Opposition Spokesperson references the Bustamante Hospital for children, where reports of poor patient care have surfaced, and he says there has been no appropriate response from the ministry.

He points out that other incidents have been reported at other health facilities.

He adds that he is very concerned about a revealing newspaper report over the weekend which detailed unsanitary conditions in many of the fourteen hospitals and health centres recently surveyed.

Dr. Guy states that the report highlighted dirty bathrooms, missing toilet seats, wet floors, broken tiles and unpleasant odours as some of the infractions.

He said these conditions pose a health risk and require immediate attention from the minister and his team.

The Opposition Spokesperson said the awful conditions could not be blamed on hospital administrations, and janitorial services, because their persistence reveals, that the system is rotting at its core and the boards should have been aware of the health hazards, in these institutions, over which they have charge.