Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and the Minister for Health must come clean on the status of open heart surgeries at Lautoka Hospital, which started recently.
The people of Fiji, particularly those waiting for months to benefit from this service, have a right to know whether heart surgeries and other associated diagnostic treatment is happening 24/7 as announced by government in March 2022.
Simply, the start of this life-saving medical procedure raises many questions that need honest answers.
Government must reveal whether heart surgeons and cardiac specialists have been recruited by Aspen Medical on a full-time basis or are overseas based and only based here temporarily.
Or whether Aspen has negotiated a deal with MIOT to provide this service?
Is Fiji Care Insurance or its owner involved with this deal or MIOT?
Has the specialist operating theatre and catheterization lab been established on a permanent basis or temporarily set up?
Again, we need honest answers to these legitimate questions to determine whether the start of open heart surgeries as claimed by Sayed-Khaiyum is a permanent service or a political gimmick for optics only.
Professor Biman Prasad Leader
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