THE EDITOR: This is an open letter to the Minister of Health.
A friend of mine's needs open-heart surgery. This has already been paid for by the Ministry of Health and the surgery passed to a private institution by the ministry.
What baffles me is why is the care centre charging my friend a further $10,000 privately for the use of a cell saver machine, to be used during surgery to recycle the patient's own blood.
Here are some fast facts on cell saver machines:
* Patients end up with healthier blood when their own blood is recycled and given back to them during heart surgery.
* The more units of banked blood a patient received, the more red cell damage researchers found.
* The damage renders the cells less able to squeeze through a body's smallest capillaries and deliver oxygen to tissues.
* Blood is recycled using the cell saver machine, which cleanses it and separates out the red blood cells to return to the patient.
* Recycling a person's own blood costs less than using banked blood.
This is clearly - and without any shame - an effort to 'milk' more money out of the patient. I have a number of problems with this.
1. Contractually, if the care centre cannot provide the full services to the ministry, then it has no business accepting contracts. The opportunity should be given to other entities to bid for providing the full services necessary for the surgery.
2. If the cardiac institution must charge extra 'service charges' on top of the price quoted to the ministry, then this should be made plain to both the patient and the ministry prior to the surgery being scheduled.
3. Once the surgery is scheduled, it is prejudicial to the patient to be asked to pay such a huge sum on short notice. Most patients who rely on the ministry to cover the surgery costs are on low income - otherwise they would have done the surgery privately. To fork over $10,000 on short notice is the centre's unconscionable opportunity to take advantage of a life-and-death situation to fatten its own coffers.
Sadly, this appears to be a new development in the practice of providing surgery from this centre. I say this because in 2017 a close relative also had open-heart surgery at the same heart care centre and there were no additional costs. One can only wonder what changed in the past five years.
The big question remains: is the Ministry of Health and the minister aware of the centre charging this extra 'fee?' If the answer is yes, why is this allowed to happen? Why does the ministry not cover the full fees, considering that most of the patients cannot afford to pay these extortionate sums?
I look forward to a full explanation from the minister, but he will forgive me for not holding my breath lest I end up six feet under.
MOHAN RAMCHARAN
Birmingham, England
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