1. During the previous oversight visit to the medical facility, renovations to the intensive care and emergency units were incomplete. Budgetary constraints also meant that a the Technology Renovations Plan could not be implemented, which resulted in delays in the acquisition of much needed medical equipment such as x-ray machines and the required infrastructure for x-ray rooms.
2. In the two years after the above visit, the hospital is still experiencing funding constraints. This means that the hospital cannot replace ageing medical equipment as planned which impacts on the quality of medical care and services offered at the hospital. Moreover the refurbishment programme too, has not yet been completed and the timeframes for the completion could not be confirmed.
3. Some sections of the hospital require urgent renovation. At the time of the Committee's visit, the Casualty theatres, intensive care units, laboratories, and x-ray machines were still incomplete.
4. The hospital believes that the above challenges could be remedied, by allowing the Defence Works Formation to take-over the repair and renovation of facilities. Poor workmanship by the service providers contracted by the Department of Public Works (DPW) meant that much of the work must be redone. The hand-over of all maintenance and repair from DPW to the Defence Works Formation should to be finalised as soon as possible.
5. Eighty-three vehicles had been allocated to the Unit - 46 vehicles were utilised by the hospital while 37 were used by the Presidential Medical Unit (PMU). This is an ageing fleet which is 67 per cent serviceable and 17 vehicles were more than a decade old. Seventeen vehicles had been written off and are waiting to be disposed of.