Dear Editor,
I perused the British Guyana Mental Hospital Act of 1930, the Guyana Private Hospital Act of 1972, and the revised Ministry of Health Act of 2005 for any information on Guyana’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS). None was found. However, upon further research, on January 18, 2021, the Guyana Chronicle reported that the Guyana Government will be pursuing Legislation Enactment on Emergency Medical Services since, though critical, the absence of legislation to govern this function can be climacteric.
Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony narrated that in tandem with Guyana’s Legal Affairs Ministry, the Ministry of Health will be compiling a draft of the EMS Legislation. Dr. Zulfikar Bux, initiator and current head of Guyana’s EMS operation was spearheading this writing of this draft paper, assisted by his colleagues at the Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Dr. Bux further ventured that streamlined EMS commenced in 2016 and optimised that this can be legislated by the end of 2021, as accreted volumes of EMS activity is being experienced.
However, of today, June 25, 2023, more than 2 years later, this EMS initiative seems to have been throttled or held in abeyance. Could Dr. Frank Anthony, the Ministry of Health or Dr. Zulfikar Bux explain:
1) What is the disposition of this 2021 EMS legislative initiative?
2) Is the Guyana’s Government EMS contract with private EMS service, like Sheriff Ambulance Service, legal and enforceable with the absence of legislation?
Thank you, in advance, for an illumination.
Sincerely,
Subrian, Esq.
