With some To­bag­on­ian pa­tients trans­ferred to Trinidad for spe­cial­ist care and fac­ing ex­tend­ed waits be­fore treat­ment, To­ba­go House of As­sem­bly (THA) Deputy Chief Sec­re­tary Dr Faith Breb­nor says many res­i­dents don’t re­alise how good they have it in To­ba­go’s health sys­tem.

Con­tribut­ing to the THA bud­get de­bate last week, Breb­nor, the Sec­re­tary of Health and Well­ness, said the ex­pe­ri­ence of off-is­land re­fer­rals is re­shap­ing pub­lic per­cep­tions of health­care de­liv­ery in To­ba­go.

She said while pa­tients are of­ten flown to Trinidad for ur­gent or spe­cial­ist treat­ment, in­clud­ing by he­li­copter in crit­i­cal cas­es, de­lays in ac­cess­ing care can be sig­nif­i­cant once they ar­rive in the pub­lic sys­tem in Trinidad.