THA Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Protection Dr Faith BYisrael has blamed “a lapse of judgment” for her recent outbursts on social media.
Last Saturday, BYisrael scolded members of the public for calling her too early in the morning and on weekends.
She posted on Facebook: “Folks...as much as you believe that we are magicians, I CAN'T do anything at 6am, on a Saturday morning, to rectify you not getting paid (from another Division)...In fact, I can't do anything at that moment in MY Division...
"Allyuh ease me me up with the 6am calls or Saturdays and Sundays please...I'm begging!!!!"
Her post included a screenshot of four incoming calls from 6.02am to 6.22am.
But in an interview with Tobago Updates on Monday, BYisrael expressed regret. “I think at that point, I was a little hurt, I was also very tired and a bit frustrated. I accept the fact that doing the post – that was a lapse in judgment.
"Certainly, it was not what I should have done, I accept that that is something that someone in my position should not have done regardless of how I felt about the situation, regardless of how tired I was and how disappointed I was.”
She explained what led to the Facebook post.
“It was actually a situation where the person who called – I am the one who helped them to get the job a month or two ago and this was the first communication that I had with them since then. It was not a 'Dr Faith, I get through, it going good,' or 'I starting tomorrow,' or anything like that. It was a 6am 'me ent get paid yet,' and I thought wow – I guess I can’t do anything right.”
Nevertheless, BYisrael apologised. "...We are all human beings and we have these feelings, we have all of these emotions, we have all of these expressions and it is what it is. So I sincerely apologise for posting it, those were my sentiments.”
She said receiving the complaints was not the issue but rather figuring out the mechanism within the divisions to ensure that a response is mitigated to prevent complaints from happening.
“I don’t know that the complaints are not welcomed because I get complaints all the time; I get complaints about things that need to be rectified all the time. As a matter of fact, I spend a significant portion of my day, evening and night talking to people.
"In fact, just last week, I got a call about 10 o’clock in the night from somebody who was in the A&E (accident and emergency) waiting to be seen and I had to act pertaining to that."
She said there must be "an understanding that that we do not have control over everything that happens within our division.”
She said sometimes a decision is made, she may sign off on a file and give approval, but after it leaves her desk, she would have to adopt a wait-and-see approach.
“I kind of hope and pray that everyone else who has to act after that actually does what they are supposed to do, or the decision that was made today does not get actioned. There is a bit of frustration.”