Health and Social Welfare – Auditor General's Department

Ensuring Value for Money in Public Health Procurement

Shavonne Drysdale — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 20:30:58 +0000

The Government allocated $671 billion to fund public health over the period 2019-20 to 2024-25. During this period, there was steady increase in the annual allocation moving from $76 billion in 2019-20 to $153 billion in 2024-25. Of the $671 billion allocated during this period, $361 billion (54 percent) was directed towards salaries and emoluments for public health professionals. This left $310 billion to address essential requirements such as hospital equipment, supply chain management, and infrastructure development. As such, robust procurement practices were essential to ensure that healthcare facilities were properly equipped and that resources were utilised efficiently.

The audit, conducted as part of a broader initiative titled “Ensuring Value for Money in Public Health Procurement,” evaluated how the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) managed its procurement activities to achieve value for money. It was crucial for UHWI to implement effective procurement procedures that maximised value, minimised waste, and improved efficiency, thereby ensuring that public health procurement resources were used to the greatest effect.

The audit revealed deficiencies in UHWI’s governance, procurement, and contract management processes, including instances of non-compliance with procurement legislation, accompanying regulations, and the Government of Jamaica Handbook of Public Sector Procurement Procedures. If not addressed, these weaknesses could increase the risk of corruption and undermine UHWI’s ability to deliver quality healthcare services. Part 1 of this report outlines the study’s scope, while Parts 2 and 3 focus on procurement needs assessment and planning, as well as the management and execution of procurement activities. The Case Study section presents a series of detailed cases grouped under common issues identified during the audit. Each specific case provides a focused analysis of challenges, discrepancies and areas of concern observed within UHWI’s procurement activities.

Managing Government’s Social Benefit Programmes

Kimberley Simon — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 21:45:35 +0000

One of Jamaica’s policy goals is to reduce the national poverty prevalence below 10 per cent by 2030. In
2021, PIOJ estimated Jamaica’s poverty rate to be 16.7 per cent of the population (12.3 per cent in 2023 as
per World Bank). The rate of poverty underscores the importance of effective social protection
programmes to achieve Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan (NDP) – National Outcome No. 3 –
Effective Social Protection. The NDP and Social Protection Strategy recognized that the establishment of a
robust social welfare system is vital for ensuring the well-being of citizens. Therefore, it is important for
the Government to ensure that social benefits programmes are well-designed and efficiently managed so
that the most vulnerable individuals receive the benefits they require as quickly and effectively as possible.
For vulnerable populations to be adequately supported, the administration of social benefits should be
managed to optimize efficiency in distribution. We conducted a performance audit of Government social
benefit programmes to assess the effectiveness of the programmes’ administration in delivering social
benefits, considering the Vision 2030 NDP strategy for Jamaica to create and sustain an effective, efficient,
transparent, and objective system for delivering social assistance services and programmes. The audit
focused on selected non-contributory social benefit programmes, primarily assessing the legislative
framework and the administration of social benefit programmes, given the strategic direction of the NDP
and the subsequent Social Protection Strategy.
The audit found that efforts to reform social benefit distribution, a key part of the social protection system
overhaul, have not progressed. The effectiveness of the Government’s social benefit programmes
continues to be hindered by a fragmented and inefficient administrative structure, which is largely due to
challenges in implementing longstanding reform measures aimed at creating a more streamlined and
effective system of social benefit distribution. This has resulted in an environment where operational
deficiencies persist, hindering the optimal delivery of social benefits to those in need. The report is
structured into three parts and a case study section. Part One introduces the study. Part Two highlights
the legislative and policy framework overseeing social benefit programmes, while Part Three assesses the
administration of social benefit programmes.

Management of Solid Waste

Adrian McNeil — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 20:28:10 +0000

The management of solid waste in Jamaica, in particular the collection of garbage has been a perennial public concern despite the significant expenditure of public funds over the years. Over the period 2016-17 to 2020-21, approximately $32 billion was allocated for solid waste management, with more than half ($17.5 billion) disbursed from the collections of property tax. Complaints from citizens include the poor quality of service provided relative to that expected, the pileup of garbage in communities and along roadways and the threat to the environment and public health. Issues relating to inefficient waste collection and improper disposal are among several factors that informed the development of a National Solid Waste Management (NSWM) Policy in 2000, and the passing of the NSWM Act in 2001.

Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan (NDP), published in 2009, acknowledged the range of issues related to solid waste management, and articulated a comprehensive National Strategy to ‘manage all forms of waste effectively’ in achieving National Outcome No. 13 “Sustainable Management and Use of Environment and Natural Resource’. The agencies responsible for implementing the related strategy actions to address the problems affecting solid waste management were outlined in the Vision 2030 NDP and the Government’s Medium-Term Socio-Economic Framework (MTF).