Cayblogger - THE Cayman Islands' Blog Man

Cayman Islands: 24 Reasons Why Current Government Leadership Stinks

It’s official: Cayman’s eye is officially off the financial ball as a UK publication has ranked Cayman the 24th "leading" financial centre in the world.

The Compass reported today that the Global Financial Centres Index showed Cayman’s perceived prowess as a “leading financial centre” is slipping, and it appears our local leaders have no contingencies to effectively deal with Cayman’s sagging image.

Everywhere in Cayman people complain that tourism is down, local merchants are having bad years financially, prices are high, etc… which can only serve to further eat away at Cayman’s self-appointed title of “(fifth) leading financial centre in the world.”

Regardless of whether or not the GFCI is accurate, at the very least it again brings to light the continued lack of foresight and planning inherent in Cayman’s archaic and xenophobic political system.

The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority’s Tim Ridley put the broken record back on the turntable and played song number one on side A entitled, “…We need to do better at providing consistent, high quality service at a competitive price.” But, as usual, no one in government is listening.

Why?

Because they’re too busy sewing their political quilts, giving lip-service answers to basic questions, and battling with publishers of local publications over air freight bills, journalistic integrity and – ridiculously enough – accusations of defacing the Cayman flag. (I got news for you Alfie – if Cayman continues to slip, David Legge’s next re-design of the Cayman flag will include a solid black flag upon which is written a Latin phrase stating, “Turn out the lights, the party is over.”)

Whether Cayman is ranked 4th or 24th, the GFCI stated again what we have known all along. More has to be done to further diversify Cayman’s financial environment while at the same time – as Ridley stated – “…developing, promoting and implementing much better long term, coherent and consistent policies on a wide range of issues such as immigration, education, health care, and infrastructure...”

There’s an old saying that you business owners know quite well that says, “If you’re not growing you’re dying – you just don’t know it.” And in spite of Cayman’s increased population growth, the economy is not keeping pace.

What needs to be done is this: The LA needs to sit down and get to work – period.

The important issues of the day are NOT Cayman Not News, Desmond Sleaze, David Legge, Alfonso Wright, McKeeva, Kurt, etc… Those topics are mere symptoms of a deeper systemic epidemic called “politicitis.”

The important issue is, simply put: What is the government going to do to ensure that they educate our kids, provide a safe and professional health services delivery system, and establish an environment where workers don’t have to worry about expulsion as the result of political whim?

I and others have been saying for a long time now that Cayman does NOT have the resources in these islands to support growth and development – we MUST import educated and experienced professionals to help us and government must work more closely with the private sector to ensure proper economic growth, not the false growth we have presently.

This has nothing to do with pride and everything to do with survival. Some locals would say, “If you don’t like Cayman then leave.” I would argue that’s a wish no one wants to see come true because this is not Caymanian versus ex-pat; this is 50,000 people in Cayman versus the rest of the world.

We’re all in this together, but a lot of people fail to understand this – worse yet, they understand it yet choose to ignore it.

And it this point we can’t really think about getting ahead until we take care of just catching up. That’s right folks – we have to make sure we don’t slip further before we consider climbing back up the rope, and for that we need leadership that understands the balance between national pride and prudent fiscal policy, good governance and private sector participation.

There are too many big heads with big mouths, tiny ears and small minds in the LA and the government to effectively understand the magnitude of what needs to happen in order to simply keep Cayman’s financial train from jumping the tracks.

The government must – MUST - begin to listen more intently to the private sector on issues such as immigration, health care and economic policy.

And love him or hate him – and I can’t believe I’m saying this – but McKeeva was a puppet for the private sector and in spite of questionable real estate deals, his poor communication skills and his lack of formal education, he understands that there are people here managing more than a trillion dollars who most definitely want to see Cayman succeed.

And McKeeva is an opportunist who knows how to profit from a whole host of opportunities while at the same time ensuring Caymanian people benefit from his successes and have working appliances in their homes.
And if Cayman succeeds, everyone here succeeds. Count on it.

And for Cayman to succeed Cayman needs help from abroad - period.

There are more people in Cayman today than ever before, yet the economy stinks, the government is ineffective, the disdain between Caymanians and ex-pats still exists to the detriment of everyone, tourism is slumping, and Cayman’s image and financial standing are headed down the toilet. And all because no one will make the tough AND correct decisions to move Cayman forward because economic policy is repeatedly supplanted by national pride.

Let’s face it - if you have a bad immigration policy and a horrible health care system coupled with escalating inflation, stagnant salaries, ineffective political leadership and poor planning, you cannot attract and/or retain the type and quality of people necessary to drive Cayman’s number one industry – in spite of national pride.

And as far as pride is concerned, I'm not sure what's worse: The fact that the GFCI thinks we're Puerto Rico or the fact that we think we're the best.

Cayman needs to wake up and smell the imported coffee before they sit down to their imported full English breakfast in a bakery run by an ex-pat and watch imported television programmes on their imported TVs next to their imported leaders of Caymanian finance who will drive their imported cars to offices built by imported labour.

At the very least we need to stop exporting our poor image.

Carol Hay And Net News Redefine "Integrity" and "Anonymity"

Thanks Carol. Thanks for utilizing the principal of freedom of speech in your commercial forum to complain about freedom of speech in an on-line forum. I’ll try to be a bit more cognizant of basic journalistic tenets - and your fragile ego - the next time I’m outing an anonymous source.

Just a few points I’d like to make to your latest semi-logical ramblings.

To begin with, were we “internet writers” public figures we could expect to be held to the same high-levels of journalistic integrity that your paper routinely tries to convince everyone it has. However, we are but wee “internet writers” – hiding behind our anonymity, clever names and smiley face icons.

But let’s think about this for just a moment. Speaking for myself, I’ll agree with Carol that some “internet writers” exercise a certain amount of cowardice when exercising anonymity. I’m afraid, which is why I hide behind my awesomely clever and copyrighted name – sans smiley face icon.

I’m afraid that some brainless a-hole will follow through on one of the many threats of bodily harm or death as a result of me exercising my right of freedom of speech. Afraid that a Caymanian in authority might use that authority to affect my job, my status, my financial life, etc…

So I agree that anonymity can be a coward’s way out and I would love nothing more than to put my real name at the bottom of all of my posts and have that little discussion with you, Carol. But what I can’t agree with is anyone who uses the same principals of free speech to condemn others for their free speech simply because she doesn’t like the manner in which it’s delivered, or the fact that anonymous writers think her writing ability stinks.

We’re anonymous – you’re not. You get paid to write your columns and put your picture and your disclaimer on your op-ed piece. We don’t.

We “internet writers” do what we do as an exercise of a freedom for which few, if any, Caymanians have actually died to ensure; but more than a few (according to death threats I’ve received) would kill to abolish.

Like it or not, you’re a public figure and you put yourself out there as such. If you can’t take the criticism by named or unnamed critics - quit. But don’t blame another’s anonymity for the fact that you write garbage for a crappy newspaper. I mean think about it: the Net News is the worst publication in Cayman and their staff’s response isn’t to get better but rather to try and convince us that everyone else is worse than they are.

One day you utilize anonymity for your benefit; the next day you shame the anonymous for "hiding."

And now, Carol, you criticize the very right that you regularly exercise – for profit – because our anonymity somehow infringes upon your credibility? It's laughable.

Newsflash Carol: We live in a land where the government screams “transparency!” and “accountability!” yet behind closed doors it conspires to hide, to deceive or to negligently ignore protocol for good governance. Transparency with conditions is no better than the system currently in place - which necessitates the use of anonymous sources (which your paper does routinely) and precludes any confidence anyone may have of speaking freely without fear of reprisal.

And with the creative license the Not News takes with journalistic integrity it's no wonder the government doesn't hasten the implementation of greater transparency.

But instead of fighting for a right that would allow me to break my anonymity, you fire little darts at anonymous hobbyists or, in your words, “internet writers.” Instead of being a part of the answer for why ex-pats and Caymanians alike are afraid to speak out, you give us all reason to continue to hide behind our clever names and smiley face icons.

If you had any kind of journalistic integrity at all, you wouldn’t be pissing and moaning about the anonymity of “internet writers” – you’d be PISSED OFF that your publisher breached sacred journalistic law by outing an anonymous source. I’m guessing if you did that you’d be docked a day’s pay, suspended or perhaps even fired… At the very least you might actually exhibit the traits of a real journalist.

But instead you toe the line and spew the paper's self-serving platform while slagging off those of us who, in spite of or because of our anonymity, know right from wrong and will utilize this forum to express it - free of charge.

See Carol? You don't need to be anonymous to be a coward. You’re hiding in plane sight and you don’t even realize it; which is much more insulting to your integrity and journalistic ability than anything I or any other “internet writer” could ever write. Or perhaps you DO realize it, which is even sadder.

And just so I don’t leave you wanting, here comes my “needlessly offensive; hurtful, hateful, crass, bigoted, racial or assumptive remarks.” I’m not going to tell you “how wrong and stupid your opinions are” – I’ll just tell you, as I usually do, how bad your columns are and how poorly you construct your opinions.

And for the record, my comments are not an indictment on the type of person you are. I’m sure you’re a wonderful wife, mother, daughter, sister, etc… I just happen to think you’re an awful writer working for a horrible publication and your contradictory remarks are counter to the journalistic principals that your publication constantly tries to convince the public it has.

Anyone who cares to bridge the gap between the two concepts can be my guest.

I'll take a clever name and a smiley face icon over a mortgaged soul any day of the week...for what it's worth. – Rufus T. McGilicutty

Desmond Does Disconnected Delirium

“A man is the architect of his own success.” That being said I would caution anyone from living in house built by Desmond Steals; or believe an editorial written in the United States by his personal ghostwriter Barry Randle.

For months – no, for years now - we’ve all had to endure the hopeless rantings of a lunatic who fears the world is out to get him and that everyone is conspiring against him; and it’s gone from funny, to annoying to just plain sad. He’s thoroughly convinced that he is in no way, shape or form complicit in events leading to his own demise.

Demon asks in Monday’s Cayman Fake News, “So who’s to blame for this sad state of affairs?” referring to Cayman Airways’ refusal to ferry his birdcage liner to the Sister Islands.

Simple, Desmond: you’re to blame.

If Cayman Airways isn’t carrying your papers on their planes at their rates and by their rules it’s not because they’ve done something wrong; it’s because their conditions for performing their task by their rules have not been met. You’ve done something wrong. If you don’t like their rules, use other means to get your product where it needs to go.

“No other carrier flies to the Sister Islands,” you say? Then I guess you’ll need to play by their rules, or hire your own plane. You can’t simply create your own rules, play by them and then screw other people when no one else abides. That’s childish, idiotic and borderline psychotic.

But far be it for me to pass judgment on a man who, by his own admission, has encouraged the government to simply “write off all outstanding indebtedness from Cayman Airways in recognition of the sterling service provided by the carrier and its staff…”, but this makes no sense whatsoever and I’m trying to understand Dizzy’s logic on this. His dementia is making it quite difficult.

Regardless, Dismal, your reasoning is as flawed as your logic. It’s kind of like writing off paying your staff after Hurricane Ivan - right? I thought so. Simply writing off debt doesn’t make it go away, and certainly writing off all of CAL’s debt would certainly not be a very good political move, now would it?

That is tantamount to, say oooooh … the government operating a hospital, having the hospital run up a tremendous amount of debt and then having the government step in and forgive the debt because the hospital did such a good job making people well (like that would ever happen). And then firing the guys who try to fix it. And as well all know, that would never happen, right?

I’m guessing if the government tried that, the Cayman Crap News would be the first to journalistically emasculate the minister in charge and complete the farce by selling out to the politicians who would join forces to further chastise those who Despot Sleeze convinced deserved his derision.

But I suppose if the debt was forgiven, this whole problem of you not being able to get your paper to the Sister Islands might magically be all cleared up, right?

The answer to life’s problems may in fact include forgiveness, but in this case Desmond you’re looking to pull your own ass out of the fire by trying to convince the rest of us that your altruism is so far-reaching that we should all subscribe to unsound and financially irresponsible behaviour – like you do – and simply forgive past transgressions and move forward.

But that’s not how it works. To be forgiven you must first forgive and your pattern of irrational and desperate behaviour, and your total lack of concern for anyone but yourself and your precious publication, makes it perfectly clear that forgiveness - if given by us - will not be returned in-kind by you.

The truth is the only master you serve is the master you see when you look in your mirror each morning, which is why you’re in the spot in which you currently find yourself. You speak too much and think too little. You talk richly and act poorly. You don’t play by different rules, you play an entirely different game.

Nothing and no one is good enough for you, and you use your paper to ridicule those who, if given the inclination, could provide you any amount of support or guidance.

In the words of Sophocles, “Whoever thinks that he alone has speech, or possesses speech or mind above others, when unfolded such men are seen to be empty.”

We’re tired of your act Desmond.

'Bozo The Desmond' Strikes Again

The following is a compilation of Net News editorial statements from editor and publisher Dismal Sleaze and his vaunted editorial staff. I’m simply providing this service to help everyone read between the Not News’ blurred lines of reality and the fish wrap’s self-proclaimed altruism and journalistic integrity. Enjoy.

Net News: According to the Observer, in a somewhat tortuous paragraph, Cayman Net News “casually jettisoned that cornerstone of investigative journalism – to never identify the anonymous source of a story – for the reason that doing so somehow served the wider public interest. The opposite was true.”

Reality: I agree with the Net News 100%. They didn’t "casually jettison that cornerstone of investigative journalism,” they took it out back, kicked the crap out of it, stomped on it, shat on it, set it on fire and left it to smolder in the wreckage of journalistic integrity that fills all of the trash bins within a 1,000-foot radius of the Net News property.

Net News: ...We can reasonably assume that he really doesn’t care to sustain his standing as a purported confidential source, or that there was never any need to preserve his anonymity in the first place.

Reality: When you’re a journalist, there is no such thing as a “reasonable assumption.” Unsubstantiated conclusions based upon uncorroborated conjecture is reckless, irresponsible and lacking in integrity - which is why it’s no surprise that “reasonable assumptions” serve as the foundation for your rag.

Net News: …We made the decision to publish the original articles, based upon the material supplied by Hon Charles Clifford prior to his election to the government in May of 2005, because we felt that it was in the interest of the public at large to know what was going on.

Reality: No you didn’t. You felt it was in YOUR interest to publish the original articles. The next time your paper acts altruistically will be the first time.

Net News: When our economic viability is threatened in this manner, we will fight back. We have always done so and we always will.

Reality: Stop fighting back and start paying your bills.

Net News: We did not identify an anonymous source “for the reason that doing so somehow served the wider public interest. What we said was that we made the decision to publish the original articles... because we felt that it was in the interest of the public at large to know what was going on.

Reality: Kinda sad when a bald man is caught splitting hairs. You say “tomato” I say “bullshit.”

Net News: We have never said or intended to say that it was in the wider public interest that Mr Clifford be identified as the source. For the reason already stated, we can only conclude that Mr Clifford really doesn’t care whether he is identified as the source or not. Whatever his contractual and/or moral obligations were in relation to such documents is largely his concern not ours and, again, one must assume that Mr Clifford feels secure in his position in this respect.

Reality: Well, your conclusions are wrong, dangerous and irresponsible. What you do for “freedom of the press” can be likened to what Hitler did to “tidy up Germany.” Did you ask Mr. Clifford if he wanted to be identified as the source, or did you “reasonably assume” he just didn't care?

Can we “reasonably assume” that Desmond Seales would want to be identified as a party to a sexual affair with a member of the civil service - or his staff - or should we ask him first? I think it’s in the public’s interest, and his moral obligations are none of my concern.

It’s obvious you have no concerns for moral or contractual obligations, otherwise your newspaper's delivery to the Sister Islands wouldn’t be in the state it is today. The Observer states, “a newspaper should never name a source who has not previously granted their consent…” They are 100% correct, much like Woodward and Bernstein who didn’t name their source in the Watergate scandal of the 1970s Richard Nixon administration – even though it was most definitely in the public’s interest. You should never have named an anonymous source – period.

So, Dismal, you DO have a moral obligation to (at the very least) respect that foundation of journalism in spite of the fact that you want to continue to spin your schizophrenic “The World vs Desmond” crap, and will use every trick, excuse and lame-ass application of journalistic principals to do so.

Net News: If this had happened to the Observer, we can be sure they would not be resorting to sanctimonious musings – then, on the other hand, from all their utterances to date, it certainly appears that they too are intimidated by the economic and political powers-that-be to emulate our determination to be independent without favour or fear of the consequences.

Reality: Yet another assumption. You can’t be sure they wouldn’t resort to any measures; although common sense and logic would dictate that they would not engage you in meaningless public debate over your own spilled-milk journalism, and something like this more than likely would never happen to a reputable paper. At least not intentionally. As far as emulating your determination to be independent without favour or fear… you’re the biggest sell-out in Cayman and Carol Hay’s recent diarrhea-esque column says so; so sell your independence somewhere else - we're not buying it.

And as far as labeling the Observer's comments as “sanctimonious musings” I think a more fitting label would be “balanced and fair editorial commentary.” The Observer stated rather succinctly, and quite fairly, “We are prepared to allow some benefit of the doubt that his (Clifford’s) actions may have served the wider public interest.” They also said that if he screwed up he should be punished AND they offered a solution to prevent this from happening again. All you did was lie, breach your agreement with your source and then blame everyone else for you being a fool.

Net News: (Carol Hay) This is precisely why I try to avoid issues that I can’t prove or don’t get straight from the horse’s mouth. I should have known better.

Reality: Carol is 100% right. She should shut her mouth and open her cookbook, lest she turn “Glitchgate” into “Bitchgate.”

Net News: (Carol Hay)…But I will not condemn or remark on something that I don’t have first hand knowledge about.

Reality: But you do it all the time.

Net News: (Carol Hay) Like him or hate his guts, Desmond Seales in last Friday’s editorial correctly stated “it is certainly not up to us or the media in general to establish the contractual and/or moral responsibilities or obligations of a public official, or anyone else for that matter, in relation to materials that may be supplied to us.

Reality: This simply proves that Dismal’s irresponsible journalism is taking root in his mindless minions. I would argue that journalists have a greater degree of responsibility and must oft times be a moral touchstone for sources seeking nothing more than to lambaste an adversary; otherwise you turn into a publication like, say… the Net News.

Net News: (Carol Hay) But I’ve come to realise that all politicians at some point and time come full circle with Net News. One minute they’re blasting this paper to hell and the next minute they’re cozying up and all palsy-walsy towards it – depending on the political time of day of course! It seems like only yesterday that McKeeva had daggers drawn at Net News and its publisher; now not a solitary issue goes to press without McKeeva having a say. Such is the relationship between Net News and our politicians.

Reality: Are you kidding? Carol actually almost made sense? The Net News does, in fact, sell its soul to whatever politician is buying; in spite of the fact that the publisher and editor-in-chief stated the Not News is determined “to be independent without favour or fear of the consequences.” Your editorial positions are rarely independent and usually slanted, stilted and replete with vengeful ire –which is my job.

At the very least Carol's latest "editeribble" is glaringly inconsistent with her editor's and paper's position. If she'd spend more time at the computer and less time at the salad bar she might have figured this out BEFORE the paper went to press.

Net News: (Carol Hay) It’s called investigative reporting or a free press – not to be confused with Cayman Free Press; that’s just a clever play on words used by the Compass to feign news and print bulletins!

Reality: (Editor's note: That was Carol trying to be cute and funny. Grade: F) No, Carol, what you guys did is not investigative reporting. As you stated, the items were delivered to you on a silver platter without you or anyone at your disorganization having to do anything other that walk into the trap of hasty and irresponsbile journalism. And you guys fell for it hook, line and stinker. (Editor's note: That was Rufus trying to be cute and funny. Grade C+)

What your paper did is called "grandstanding, self-serving, biased, embellished, editorialized, over-sensationalized garbage." You wouldn’t know investigative reporting if it beat you over the head with your casserole dish – but God how I wish it would try.

There’s an old saying Carol, “If you’re gonna hang with the big dogs you gotta lift your leg a little bit higher.” It’s apparent that everyone at the Net News squats when they pee.

At the end of the day the Cayman Net News is a novelty - a dime-store tabloid of sub-standard journalism packaged in an over-produced high-gloss wrapper. It's lipstick on a pig. It's a gilded terd. It's a schizophrenic's feable attempt to hide the fact that he is a self-serving sychophant disguised as a really bad journalist. It is lacking in any socially redeeming value whatsoever. It is - in a word - garbage.

And Carol Hay is STILL a horrible writer... for what it's worth. Carol for God's sake stick to the salad bar!

Government Salutes Residents' Appeal For Transparency And Accountability

Proving yet again that the Cayman Islands Government is a model for inefficiency and political hypocrisy, Auditor General Dan Duguay did something no other government official (who still has a job) has ever done - he put his stones on the table and officially stated that the government’s financial reporting process is a total disaster.

The Cayman Islands Government has been laying claim to the theory that they will be “transparent” in all they do so that the public can hold them accountable for their actions – from a results and a revenue basis –
and the government is failing colossally.

Does it matter? No.

And to make matters worse, I don't think anyone in government or the LA actually cares. All they care about is picking up a paycheque, counting down until the next public holiday, throwing political barbs at colleagues and journalists and insisting that “the people’s house” needs a dress code.

Authorities aren’t validating their financial existence? So what.

And it’s not surprising that the biggest offenders of the PMFL are the Health Services Authority, The Public Service Pensions Board and Cayman Airways.

I can tell you from personal experience that the PSPB is supposed to be distributing account statements for participants at least annually, but I know I’ve never received a statement – ever.

Needless to say the HSA is the sorriest excuse of an authority the Cayman Islands has and expecting anything more than their current level of attained mediocrity is nothing short of an exercise in futility. When the government finally pulls their heads out of their arses and realizes that the hospital needs to be sold to a private company we’ll all be a lot better off and Duguay will get his annual financial statements on time.

Cayman Airways? It is what it is. I’m not going to complain too much about an authority that has consistently done their job at least well enough to not put my life in eminent danger – unlike some authorities… I honestly feel I have a greater chance of dying by walking into the George Town Hospital than I do by boarding a Cayman Airways 737.

Funny that the authorities that are the biggest offenders in not complying with the PMFL are the three that could have the biggest impact on our lives. The hospital could save our lives (if they had qualified staff), the PSPB manages our money so we can survive financially (we hope – we won’t know if they don’t provide us account statements), and Cayman Airways flies us off the island so we can survive mentally.

But let’s be realistic: At the end of the day who really cares how government spends money? Who really needs to know how the government spends money? All I know is that because of or in spite of government spending we will all continue to be held captive by a government that scoffs at accountability and ignores their own claims of transparency; oft times blaming Hurricane Ivan.

But even if they are held to the PMFL, they will still continue their unqualified spending with no resulting increase in results or their precious transparency.

By not filing annual financial reports the government departments/ authorities / agencies, etc… are saying, “Sit down, shut up and don’t ask any questions.” They play by their own rules and if you don’t like it, tough!

You and I are held to different standards. Don’t pay a speeding ticket? Get arrested and fined. Late with your phone or cable bill? You get disconnected. Don’t renew your work permit? You get booted off the island. Don’t tell the Cayman people how you spend millions of dollars and fail to comply with the PMFL? Screw you – we’re the government. Do as we say, not as we do.

This is more proof that the government just doesn’t care about the public. They have no respect for their own laws and have no inclination to make the government “transparent” and every inclination to stonewall the auditor general and flat out lie to everyone else. Why? Because the very government that holds us accountable for our actions does not hold itself to the same standards.

They have job security and to heck with you for challenging their actions. The government operates best which operates within itself – and citizenry be damned.

I say “well done Dan Duguay” for going public with what we all know: that our government is replete with hypocrisy, unaccountable at any level, and flagrantly and willfully ignorant of the laws - which supports the notion that they have a wholesale lack of concern for the public they claim to serve.

Where Does A Spin Doctor Go For A Check-up?

Thank goodness the Health Services Authority issued a statement regarding exporting routine medical procedures, “within the constraints of the law” because something tells me the “constraints of the law” will be visiting them very soon.

At least we know the HSA spin doctor is qualified to practice.

Try as they may, the HSA public relations team will not be able to spin this in such a direction as to make them look any less like the incompetent and reckless quacks they are. I’m sorry but regardless of the truth as the HSA says, or as the patient alleges, at the very least the patient should never have been released for air travel after her water broke on a pre-term pregnancy.

Although the HSA claims that, “As a point of interest ruptured membrane in early pregnancy is not a contraindication for air travel,” several websites including Caremark Health Resources state: Women who have any of the following conditions should not fly while they are pregnant: Severe anemia, sickle cell disease, history of blood clot, placental abnormalities, RISK OF PREMATURE LABOUR,… I included this for Caswell Wolford and the HSA as a “point of interest.”

Another women’s health resources website states that premature rupture of the membrane (PROM) could lead to full-blown labour within 24 hours; and PROM prior to 37 weeks could lead to infections and problems. The website states also that:

In the time between the PROM being diagnosed and labor starting, there seems to be little consensus on where women should be managed. Many doctors prefer women to remain as hospital inpatients during this time. This allows a regular check on temperature, pulse rate and development of womb tenderness which may indicate infection. Twice weekly blood tests looking for signs of a response to infection and weekly vaginal swabs are often instigated. Increasingly, however, doctors are beginning to feel that the risks of infection with PROM have been previously overstated, and many are now happy for women to be managed at home after an initial period in the hospital.

The above suggests that the patient should be observed both on an inpatient and a homebound basis. Regardless, it appears (according to this information and not HSA protocol) that the HSA doctor mismanaged this case at a very basic level and, at the very least, failed to effectively convey the potentially serious consequences not only of the patient flying but of the patient simply leaving the hospital – at least initially.

We as patients have very few resources upon which we can depend in times of need. We have to take our doctors’ counsel as being accurate and appropriate in spite of the presence of a multitude of studies, opinions and research. For every study that contradicts our doctor’s advice there are just as many that support it. And I’m sure for every pregnant woman who has gone into labour on an airplane there are hundreds who have not.

But I'm sure we can all remember quite a few instances where the HSA has stabilized first and exported second. This case should have followed THAT protocol instead of the resulting "CYA" protocol.

In this instance the patient was admitted as a result of her condition and presented with symptoms that indicated a likelihood of premature labour which IS a contraindication for air travel – at least according to a couple of websites. She was counseled that it was okay to fly, left the hospital with a doctor’s note and was subsequently returned to the HSA for further observation – and then allowed to leave the HSA again to fly. She did fly, she delivered in flight, and now it's her fault in spite of the fact that HSA protocols were followed and her condition is not necessarily a contraindiction for her results? BS.

Here's a scenario: Self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head are not necessarily a contraindication for life. HSA - don't believe me? I'll write a note saying it's okay to do it.

I don’t believe for one moment that “all protocols were followed... (with) due concern for the welfare of the patient and her unborn child” as the HSA release states. What I think is that the HSA failed to provide effective counsel and in the absence of common sense severely jeopardized the lives and well-being of both mother and child. Now they’re covering their butts by blaming everyone BUT themselves for their own irresponsibility.

What ever happened to erring on the side of caution? How can a prudent person possibly be expected to grasp the notion that it’s okay to release a first-time mother with a ruptured membrane during a pre-term pregnancy to get on a plane after she had been hospitalized twice? At the very least she should have been given 24- to- 36 hours for her membrane to recover a bit; at least according to web information.

The HSA release blames the patient for flying even though she was released to fly by the HSA; the HSA release uses only moderately accurate information regarding contraindicative activities for PROM; the HSA release claims all protocols were followed and; the HSA states “any attempt to smear the integrity of the professional team of the HSA is very unfortunate given the patient’s decision to travel, even after all options were explained.”

I don't think it's a bit unfortunate that anyone would try to smear the HSA's integrity. What I DO think is unfortunate is that the HSA believes it has integrity by blaming everyone else for their mistakes.

Here’s how the HSA press release should have read:

We at the HSA sincerely apologize for any failure on our behalf to effectively communicate the delicate nature of the patient’s condition prior to her boarding CAL flight 600. While we are very sorry for the incident and understand the public's concern regarding this situation, we at the HSA are taking every step to address the breakdown in communication that led to the event and we will do everything in our power to hasten the mother’s and the child’s return to Cayman where both will be well looked after. We are pleased that mother and baby are doing well and we will do everything we can to ensure they both make a speedy and full recovery.

An attorney might call this a "blanket admission of guilt." I call a letter authorizing travel for a PROM patient with a pre-term baby a blanket admission of guilt - I would call the above press release an apology and sympathetic appeal for forgiveness. Of course to do something like that would mean the HSA would have to exercise a bit of integrity.

In spite of how this all pans out, shame on the HSA for pointing their fingers at anyone but themselves. Shame on the HSA for not addressing the root issue of the problem. And shame on the HSA for deriding the public opinions of those of us who now have even less confidence in their ability and integrity due to their own irresponsibility and negligence. Your failure to instill even the slightest bit of public confidence is very telling.

I could be wrong, but if the HSA had an ounce of integrity the Cayman Islands Medical and Dental Society would already have announced they supported the hospital's actions. Funny that the organization comprised of health care practitioners hasn't yet made a statement on the behaviour of members of their professional organization. But I suppose it's just another case of more rats seperating themselves from the sinking HSA ship.

Phone Message For The HSA: The Village Called - They're Missing Their Idiots

In spite of the best efforts of the past two leaders of the Health Services Authority – both summarily fired
because the HSA board is polluted with narrow-minded fools and political buddies of the government of the day – it seems that accurate financial data STILL is not available from the major provider of health services in the Cayman Islands; proving yet again that the HSA is the most financially dangerous “organization” in the Cayman Islands.

Here's the short version of that: money in - nothing out.

Surprise!

Let’s just go ahead and get this out of the way right off the bat: Al Ebanks is wholly unqualified, undereducated, and lacking in the vast majority of even the most basic of skills that might allow him the slightest semblance of even being able to contribute to the proper oversight of the HSA.

No matter how much he loves God – or how much God loves him – he’s WAY out of his element when he sits at the HSA table.

Never mind the fact that the HSA still can’t produce any usable financial data; never mind the fact that the HSA still can’t make a deadline for the production of said data; never mind that Ebanks doesn’t know the financial standing of the HSA; never mind that the multi-million dollar Cerner system is STILL useless due to systemic human incompetence; never mind that the HSA fired the guy that gave them the most recent financial data and basically built this three-year budget forecast Ebanks talks about… never mind all of this.

The HSA has been, is, and always will be run by idiots until the people of Cayman stand up and say “enough!” And it’s time for us to stand up.

The tragic farce of a board of directors is now overseeing doctors who are trying to kill us; and a PR department who is trying to cast the blame of a bad medical decision on the patient.

Just after a HSA doctor (allegedly) advised a pregnant woman that it would be okay to fly to Jamaica in spite of possibly being in labour and because the doctor and the nurse haven’t a clue as to what insurance does and does not cover - and because having a baby is cheaper in Jamaica - Ebanks says in the Caymanian Compass, “The authority has in place arrangements to facilitate patients that are unable to pay immediately for care to receive medically necessary treatment and a financial plan worked out for ongoing payments.”

Yeah, thanks Al. That arrangment is called HEALTH INSURANCE you pin-head.

Statements like this only serve to highlight the board’s total lack of involvement in the proper oversight of the functioning of the HSA.

The entire HSA board has no idea what the HSA doctors, nurses, staff, etc… are doing. The board hasn’t the foggiest idea of the rampant lack of professionalism which abounds at the George Town Hospital. The board has no clue how to manage the hospital. The HSA is categorically unqualified to in any way, shape or form oversee even the most basic of operations of the largest part of our health care system.

“Prove it!” you say. I think I will.

In the same Compass story in which it is written that the authority has procedures to help people pay their bills, it states that former minister of Health Gilbert McLean "does not believe the political will exists to challenge the prevailing attitude that people don’t need to pay their hospital bills.”

So let me see if I get this. The HSA has a system in place to help people pay their bills but neither they nor the government have a clue as to how to communicate the importance of patients actually paying their bills. Hmmmmm...

In layman terms this is described as a lame-ass cop-out by people who don't know what’s going on. The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. More appropriately, the right hand doesn’t know that the left hand has been amputated – probably in Jamaica because it’s cheaper.

Put simply: the HSA board has no idea how to use local laws to ensure timely and appropriate payment for services rendered – which is why the HSA doesn’t, hasn’t and won’t ever be able to appropriately and accurately account for the goings on at the hospital.

Why is that? Because undereducated, under-qualified, unintelligent people keep getting posted in positions of authority in the one “organization” that can save our lives or kill us. And recent events prove that the staff can be very calculated and efficient at killing us or at the very least putting our lives in danger.

It’s almost to the point of bad comedy now. Seriously, I’m a pretty creative person but even I can’t create stuff this ridiculous.

Not only can the HSA not produce timely financials, but the ones they do manage to scratch out several years after they’re due are – in the words of the auditor general – “effectively incomprehensible.” And you wonder why healthcare costs so much… It’s not the insurance companies – it’s the providers. It’s the HSA.

Not only do HSA doctors and nurses apparently not know how insurance works, but they have no concept of what the standard government contract covers – a contract that, dare I say, a vast majority of the people in Cayman have as their coverage.

And absent the knowledge of our insurance scheme or patient financial aid, some doctors seem to lack even the most basic level of common sense when it comes to making prudent medical decisions. I’m no doctor, but if a woman is in labour, or about to go into labour, I’m not putting her on a plane - nor am I letting her on a plane (CAL).

Again I say – the problem is not financial, it’s systemic. The wrong people are in the wrong positions doing the wrong jobs – and doing them poorly; and it starts at the top.

Gilbert McLean will say it’s Anthony Eden’s fault, Eden will blame McLean, the HSA public relations department will blame the patients… and no one will take responsibility because if they do the HSA board will fire them!

As a result, these idiots are costing us not only money but quite possibly a reduction in the quality of life and an increased probability that the system upon which we rely to maintain our health may, in fact, hasten our demise.

So to Al Ebanks I say this: Quit. Retire. Resign. Do whatever you have to do to make a spot at the boardroom table for someone who deserves to be there. Someone who is qualified by education, experience and training and NOT simply qualified because of who they know.

To government I say simply this: set your pride aside and hire a qualified team of professionals to run the HSA. Your pride is leading the hospital down the road to financial ruin and placing our lives in jeopardy in the process.

Al, you’re a man of God, yes – no one can deny that. In spite of that I must say that the only uneducated, unqualified, non-degreed professional I would ever trust with my life was crucified 2000 years ago. Please let us know if you need help getting that last nail in – until then, step aside and let an educated and qualified person right the ship.

Cayman Islands Health Care System: Commitment to Excrement

As if the problems surrounding Cayman’s health care system weren’t bad enough, now it appears that doctors are advising pregnant women to board planes to fly to Jamaica to have their babies.

The recent heroic efforts by the amazingly calm flight crew of CAL flight 600 only serve to highlight the declining commitment to service exercised by local health care practitioners, the government, the licensing boards and professional organizations with which medical practitioners are affiliated.

(Allegedly) Giving a pregnant woman a shot to stop labour so she can board a flight to fly to Jamaica because the doctor and the nurse said it’s cheaper in Jamaica despite the fact that the lady apparently had health insurance and despite the fact that her water had broken is, in my opinion, criminal.

The fact that the HSA has this procedure as standard protocol is nothing short of tragically pathetic.

This so-called ‘doctor’ jeopardized the lives of the mother and the unborn child as he knew quite well that the mother was not at full term - she was at seven months – and was quite possibly close to giving birth to a baby that would need special post-natal care. (Allegedly)

Can women fly at seven months? Sure. Should this lady have flown? No. The doctor should have known this, and probably did. (Allegedly)

Now the baby is in an incubator in Jamaica and the mother and father will have to spend more money to stay in Jamaica, away from Cayman and their jobs; and for what? Because some fool told them it’s cheaper in Jamaica. Yo doc – you’re an idiot! (Not allegedly)

But what are we to expect from a system run by incompetents, managed by fools, and delivered by persons who concern themselves only with the bottom line? And all of this supported by a government that still will not take the proper steps to hire the qualified people to oversee this broken-down mess of a health care system.

For any noticeable improvement to take place Cayman has got to get to the root of the problem. Hold on to your hats because I’m about to tell you what the problem is – and it’s not money like the government says.

The problem with the Cayman Islands health care scheme is not financial – it’s systemic.

The problem isn’t that the doctors and insurance companies aren’t making enough money; the problem is that in today’s system the patients and insurance companies have to SPEND too much money because the doctors are not – in most cases – as concerned about results as they should be.

(Author’s note: I realize there are some very good doctors in these islands who are eminently qualified and dedicated to their craft. This is directed at the quacks who care more about their paycheques than about their patients.)

There – I said it. Doctors need to be more concerned with RESULTS; which means they need to focus more on quality of individual care for each patient. The days of cookie-cutter medicine are over – it’s time to go to work.

How can they do this? Simple. Spend more time each day with fewer patients. Treat patients like human beings instead of revenue centres. Focus on the solution to the problem and not the least-cost way of doctoring. If you do this, you can change the system and the money will still be there - I promise.

Example: If you go to a mechanic you have to leave your car for a day or two so they can look it over and then call you with what they think the problem is; yet a doctor can diagnose a human being - a system exponentially more complex than a car - simply by looking at your chart? I don’t buy it, but I know I’m paying for it.

If doctors focused more on proper treatment of patients they could cut down on costly follow-up care and quite possibly lower the rate of mis-diagnoses and expensive unnecessary procedures. And people with the crappy little basic government plan wouldn’t have to blow their paltry annual allowance to have a doctor not give them the full compliment of attention and advice; which in the long turn costs the patients more money – which leads to doctors putting pre-term pregnant women on planes to Jamaica, thereby rendering useless any local insurance the patient may or may not have.

But when it gets right down to it, the government just doesn’t care enough about you and me to address the problem from a systemic perspective. They will continue to tell us that “health care is expensive.” And they’re right. Inappropriate and inadequate healthcare costs everyone a lot of money – especially insurance companies and patients.

But again – the government just doesn’t care.

Study after study shows that misdiagnoses, missed diagnoses and inappropriate or substandard care kill more people and have a more significant impact on health care costs than research and medical technological advancements. But the government will tell you different because they have no worries.

You see, the government is tucked safely inside a civil service plan that provides 100% coverage for its participants while John Q Public is relegated to picking up the scraps of a system so weak that the very government that DEVISED it is smart enough to not participate IN it.

And local health insurance companies MUST sell this garbage or face prosecution instead of being free to develop products that will more adequately and (possibly) economically meet our needs, while the government opts out, creates its own insurance company, and plays by its own rules. Seperate but equal for all you civil and human rights advocates.

What’s good for the goose will kill the gander and government is holding the axe.

So wake up Cayman. We deserve better. We must demand better.

Better and more appropriate care. Better oversight of the medical practitioners in Cayman. Better options to our health care plans.

And to the doctor who put that lady on the plane to Jamaica I say this: you’d better hope that she is stupid enough to not get an attorney and sue you, the nurse, the HSA and the government. Regardless – you’re an idiot, a fool, a moron, and an insensitive cretin who deserves to be run off the island and banned from ever practicing medicine on this planet again.

I’m sure the spin doctors at the HSA are busying themselves in an effort to deflect blame; and the Cayman Islands Medical and Dental Society is probably doing the same.

Guess what? Not this time. This time you’ve done it. This time you’ve CAUSED harm – you’ve broken the first Hippocratic Oath. This time you should pay for your insensitive and negligent behaviour. Patients and health insurance companies should no longer bear the financial burden for your mistakes.

Shame on the doctor, shame on the HSA, the government and the board responsible for licensing this joke of a doctor.

It strikes me as odd that a government so bent on ridding these islands of Jamaicans after Hurricane Ivan would condone its doctors’ behaviour when they risk patients’ lives by sending them to Jamaica to receive health care. But I guess Jamaicans and other ex-pats will continue to be 'citizens of convenience' in Cayman.

Cayman Islands Health Care: what doesn’t make us stronger will only kill us.