Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton says the majority of the 410,000 people who visit accident and emergency departments are treated and sent home.

Dr. Tufton notes that not all the 24 A&E departments in the island can provide all the care that patients require.

As such, there is a system to assess the services needed to determine if the patient should be kept or transferred to another hospital.

Dr. Tufton says the triage system used to determine priority cases in the A&E department is very effective.

Dr. Tufton reiterates that plans are in place to upgrade some hospitals.

These include the Spanish Town Hospital which will be adding a six-story building. This will accommodate a larger accident and emergency ward, an intensive care ward, and more operating theatres.

Further, the University Hospital of the West Indies, St. Ann Regional, and May Pen hospitals are also to be upgraded.