THE BOARD of the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) says it has implemented several cost-cutting measures over nine months to address major financial and operational deficiencies inherited from the previous administration which severely compromised healthcare delivery.The release on Saturday stated, “The board inherited an organisation facing severe financial constraints, widespread operational inefficiencies, non-existent maintenance programmes and broken-down medical equipment, while hundreds of millions of dollars were owed to suppliers for maintenance, medical equipment and essential services. In several instances, suppliers ceased providing goods and services to the NCRHA due to outstanding payments owed to them, resulting in shortages of critical supplies, including unavailable laboratory reagents and delays in equipment repairs.”It highlighted that tighter financial management and corrective measures implemented which included:• More than $124 million paid to a janitorial company over two years without tender or contract• Approximately $250 million paid to security companies over a ten-year period without tender or contract• More than $350 million owed to over 300 companies• Approximately $98 million being paid annually in overtime wages without accountability and productivityMeanwhile, it stated that major operational deficiencies affecting patient care across the region included:• Long waiting times for surgeries• Significant surgical and diagnostic backlogs• Prolonged waiting times for CT scans and MRI appointments• Extended clinic waiting times• Less than ideal conditions within Accident and Emergency Departments• Non-functional lifts, standby generators and air-conditioning systems• Broken-down MRI, CT scan, X-ray and other critical medical equipment• Widespread lighting and infrastructure deficiencies across facilities“Drastic cost-cutting initiatives and prudent fiscal management implemented over recent months have now created the financial capacity to expand healthcare services and aggressively address long-standing backlogs and operational deficiencies affecting patient care,” it stated.It added that expanded services and initiatives will include:• Saturday operating theatre sessions• Extended operating theatre hours up to 6 p.m. during the week• Overtime services for CT scans and MRI scans• Additional nursing support aimed at increasing patient throughput and reducing delays• Implementation of a $75 incentivised allowance rate for Registered Nurses• Overtime compensation for other healthcare personnel• Increased surgical operations, including cancer surgeries, cardiac surgeries and the management of stroke patients• Reduction of inherited backlogs and cancellations negatively affecting patients and their families“The Authority maintains that no patient opera on must be unnecessarily postponed and waiting times must not become unfavourable to members of the public seeking healthcare services,” the release stated.The Authority said it further acknowledged the commitment and sacrifice demonstrated by nurses who volunteered to work extended shifts to maintain continuity of patient care.“Over the past two months, at least 50 additional nurses have been interviewed and recruited to strengthen staffing levels, improve nurse-to-patient ratios and enhance the patient care experience. The NCRHA categorically rejects claims suggesting worsening patient outcomes,” the release stated.It added that ongoing improvements in patient flow and service delivery have included:• Morbidity and mortality figures improving from 275 deaths recorded in January 2026 to 206 deaths recorded in April 2026• Increased surgical operations• Reduced waiting times for admissions from Accident and Emergency Departments to wards• Improved cleanliness and working conditions• Reduction in nursing absenteeism from approximately 20% to 18%“Within just nine months, many long-standing issues have already been decisively addressed, financial bandwidth has been created and the NCRHA is now strategically positioned to continue expanding medical services and improving healthcare delivery throughout the region,” the release stated.‘Worthless words’In response to the release, president of the T&T National Nursing Association, Idi Stuart, said, “The old adage that a fisherman never says his fish is rotten is a true description of the NCRHA’s press release.”Responding to the Express via WhatsApp, Stuart said, “One thing is true, after the last nine months following the new NCRHA board of directors taking office in August 2025, there has been no shortage of upheaval and chaos in the NCRHA.”He added that this is one of the reasons the association has been calling for an independent body to evaluate public and private healthcare institutions in T&T.“It is something that has been in the cards in excess of 20-30 years and that body which is supposed to be called the Health Sector Accreditation Council will be an independent organisation to come in and analyse for itself and the public will have accurate and unbiased knowledge of what is taking place in these institutions and NCRHA indicating to the public that all is well and they have been able to increase surgical operations and reduce waiting times and nurses absenteeism can be verified by an independent body as opposed to an institution just throwing out these worthless words to members of the public and expect them to believe it.”Stuart claims the information in NCRHA’s releases is sometimes contradictory as the number of nurses the board says its hired changes every press release. He questioned how many nurses the board has actually hired during the last few months.“This hiring of whether it is 41, 61, or 51 pales in comparison the amount of nursing personnel that are currently short within the NCRHA facilities as the association has repeatedly demonstrated via the Freedom of Information Act document and real-time comparisons from other institutions where it demonstrates that the NCRHA is operating at half capacity of the required numbers of nursing personnel. So NCRHA requires in excess of over 400 nursing personnel so the drop in the bucket of 50 is of no consequential value and even with that we have already seen a number of those nurses leaving the NCRHA,” said Stuart.Noting the NCRHA’s implementation of a $75 incentivised allowance rate for registered nurses, Stuart said this is one of the most disheartening things that has infuriated nursing personnel.“NCRHA has confirmed that they are reverting to the $75 pool rate which initially caused all of this backlash and protest within the NCRHA facilities. There are so many things wrong with them putting this in their press release, firstly they would have initially said that there was a big racket and corruption and they had to bring it back to $60 to meet the CPO (Chief Personnel Officer) memo but that memo was issued in 2023,” said Stuart.He said the NCRHA is also not indicating the reason for bringing back the $75 incentive over a month after removing it.“It really comes down to the shortage of nursing personnel within the NCRHA, it demonstrates the hypocrisy of the NCRHA and its press releases. The only reason why you need to pay nurses, incentivised and encourage them to come out for extra duty is that it confirms you don’t have enough nursing personnel and it is negatively affecting the patient moving through the system from accident and emergency to the wards because there are not enough nurses in both these areas,” said Stuart.He also questioned if the $75 incentive suggests a reversal of its removal or if it is temporary.From April 28, nurses and midwifery personnel have been engaging in an arrangement where one nurse will be mandated to work with no more than six patients at any given time at healthcare facilities across the varying RHAs, a move initiated by the TTNNA. Stuart previously said the practice reflects international standards and is meant to push the Government into negotiations over nurses and midwifery staff still being paid at 2013 salary levels.The one nurse to six patient ratio was adopted after NCRHA chairman Dr Tim Goopeesingh had accused nursing personnel of exploiting the ‘pool’ or extra-duty system and claimed some staff members were carrying home salaries up to $80,000 over a three-month period.While Stuart rejected the chairman’s claims, saying it applied to just one nurse to his knowledge, he had said staff shortages, especially at the NCRHA, were compelling nurses to work overtime to ensure adequate ward coverage.