The government is working to restore Montserrat’s healthcare partnership with Guadeloupe, which previously enabled patients to travel there for treatment.
Premier Reuben Meade announced at a United Alliance town hall meeting on 10 January that he has written to the neighbouring French island’s head of government.
He told attendees he has requested permission to bring a team to Guadeloupe to renew a memorandum of understanding established over a decade and a half ago.
“For some reason that seemed to have fallen by the wayside, so we’re now looking at having a rebuilding of that relationship through a new MOU,” he said.
“We’re hoping that they will come back towards this side of the month, so that we can take a quick trip down and get that sorted out.”
He explained that under the renewed partnership, Guadeloupe would provide specialist healthcare where possible, and patients requiring additional services would be transferred to Martinique.
Health minister Dr Ingrid Buffonge has been “pushing” for an improved healthcare relationship with Guadeloupe, Meade explained.
He did not provide any further details.
According to the UK government’s foreign travel advice on Guadeloupe, its general healthcare facilities are very good.
The standard of health service hospitals and GP practices is equivalent to mainland France, and specialist treatment is available, it adds.
Meanwhile, in the UK government’s foreign travel advice on Montserrat, it says that good healthcare is limited in availability.
“You may have to pay in advance to obtain medical services and it can be expensive. If you need specialist medical treatment, you may need to travel to a neighbouring island,” it says
Watch the meeting in full below:
