Spencer is the man in the hot seat and the people of Jamaica are getting more than a little tired of the Government pointing to the previous administration for every problem now facing the country.

There is no doubt that Rudyard Spencer is an affable man. The 65-year-old trade unionist turned politician is often with a ready smile and an old world charm that reminds many people of their favourite uncle.

As a trade unionist, Spencer represented workers with a fixity of purpose but always seemed prepared to be reasonable even when negotiating with his political rivals, the People's National Party administration.

With his entry into representational politics, the former Bustamante Industrial Trade Union president stayed far from the win-at-all-cost approach and received the approval of the people of South East Clarendon without any hint of the shady deals which have characterised much of Jamaican politics.

So it came as a major surprise to many when a strident and obviously angry Spencer came out swinging on Tuesday describing a Gleaner report about a shortage of bags and reagent at the Blood Bank as "scandalous and irresponsible".

Hours later the shame was obvious in his voice as Spencer, with egg on his face, meekly admitted that The Gleaner was correct.

"I don't suffer embarrassment for people easily and, yes, I was embarrassed and we are doing something about it. Somebody will have to pay," Spencer declared at a media briefing in Kingston.

poor work conditions

But the shortage at the Blood Bank is just a symptom of the malady facing the health sector which has been under the leadership of Spencer since the Jamaica Labour Party was elected to form the Government in 2007.

Doctors are complaining about poor work conditions, patients have endured untold suffering because of delays in getting treatment and a shortage of drugs, the bodies of babies have gone missing and most health workers are less than satisfied with their compensation package.

Critics of the Bruce Golding administration have charged that the problems are related to the clearly political decision to scrap user fees at most public-health facilities.

That was a campaign promise which Golding just had to keep despite the worsening economic conditions facing the country.

But, in the worst case scenario, free health care added just over $1 billion to the money that the Govern-ment had to find for the sector. That is not a lot in a Budget which this year is $561 billion.

And, to be fair to Spencer, the health sector was in a shambles even before the change of government and the introduction of the no-user-fee policy.

badly underfunded

The health sector has been badly underfunded by respec-tive governments over the years and with $27.1 billion for housekeeping expenses this year, Spencer had to allocate $24 billion to the University Hospital of the West Indies and the four regional health authorities.

To compound the matter, for every dollar allocated to the regional authorities, 76 cents is used to pay the salaries of health-care workers leaving just 24 cents to do everything else, including buying medication, machinery and supplies.

It is a problem Spencer is well aware of and one that he says he is trying desperately to address.

But while the studies are being done and the negotiations continue, people who voted for Spencer in Rocky Point and Lionel Town could die because they can't get the medical treatment the State should provide.

hot seat

Spencer is the man in the hot seat and the people of Jamaica are getting more than a little tired of the Government pointing to the previous administration for every problem now facing the country.

Administering the affairs of the country is a job the JLP asked for and Spencer must have known what he was getting into when he accepted the prime minister's offer to lead the health ministry.

His mandate is to fix the health system which is the lifeline for every Jamaican who cannot hop on an air ambulance to Miami for treatment once they have a 'bellyache'.

Until that is done, Rudyard Spencer will remain among The Sunday Gleaner's People Under Pressure.