…infrastructural projects in Budget 2017 will boost health care – Dr Norton

MINISTER of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, has noted that the infrastructural projects outlined in the 2017 Budget, coupled with the health projects and programmes that would be rolled out, mean well for the health sector.

Speaking during a televised programme, Budget in Focus, the Public Health Minister explained that the construction of roads and bridges will make the hinterland areas of Guyana much more accessible, noting that millions of dollars are spent each year to medivac residents from far-flung communities to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
In fact, in 2016, the Public Health Ministry spent $48.8M on medical evacuation services for 93 cases that were unable to be treated in their respective regions, and which were referred to the GPHC, the national referral hospital.

Minister Norton said that in 2017, his ministry will take steps to improve the quality of services being offered by health care facilities in the coastal and hinterland regions, in an effort to reduce the large number of cases that are seen at GPHC.
While GPHC is the national referral hospital, it is currently battling with the issue of overcrowding, because many persons fail to utilise the services of their regional hospitals and community health centres.

“We are hoping that if we can improve the quality of health care that is given to these outlining areas, then the overcrowding of the Georgetown Public Hospital will not be as demanding as it is at the moment,” Dr Norton said.
This, he said, forms part of the ministry’s primary health care approach, explaining that there are times when people arrive at GPHC too late, resulting in death. As such, he said construction and even upgrades to roads and bridges can link communities, thereby creating greater access to health care facilities.

In keeping with this agenda, the Public Health Ministry will be moving to upgrade the services provided at regional hospitals, such as those in Lethem and Mabaruma.
“We need in no uncertain terms the availability of a functioning operating theatre which will include not only infrastructure in terms of having anaesthetic machine, and the different medical supplies and medical equipment but also the personnel,” Minister Norton explained.
For Guyana, he said the Bartica Regional Hospital is a model regional hospital.

At that hospital, the operating theatre is fully functioning. Additionally, it is equipped with a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) along with eight specialists, including a general surgeon, cardiologist, orthopaedic surgeon, paediatricians, air, nose and throat specialists, a dermatologist and an anaesthesiologist.
“We are hoping that we can get medical personnel into the hinterland areas, above the level of the general medical practitioner. Bartica is a model for the regional hospitals and we have to move in that direction,” he added.

However, he said while the Government through the Public Health Ministry is taking the necessary steps to increase capacity and enhance facilities such as the Leonora Regional Hospital and the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, the attitudes of some health care providers are less than desirable, particularly at the health centres.
“We have got a lot of situations that we are not happy[with],” he posited, noting that while some health centres may periodically experience challenges, health care providers must strive to provide the best level of service available. “A little bit of interest, care and dedication,” he said, would go a far way in improving services being offered.

Nevertheless, he said there are those health care givers who continue to show tremendous dedication and love for their profession and should not be overshadowed by those who fail to live up to the oath.
The health sector has been allocated $31.2B or 12.5 percent of the $250 Billion 2017 Budget. The allocation is to prioritise focus mainly on achieving universal coverage for health care.