PUBLIC Health Minister Dr George Norton has said that all is not well with the health system in Region 6 (East Berbice/Ctyne).
He contends that if the system is not changed, the Administration would be failing the people of that region. This the Government is not prepared to allow, and has enlisted the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) to evaluate the operations of the Berbice Regional Health Authority (BRHA).

Expressing concerns about the legitimacy of the BRHA, Dr Norton pointed out that there is no legislation that guides the body, and “it cannot hire nor fire; it is not even an established body”.

The Board was enacted in 2005, and, from all indications, it was the former Health Minister who had authority to legalise the Board; however, the document to effect this legalisation, which is in Dr Norton’s possession, was never signed.

Minister Norton has said that while the intention of the BHRA is good, the fact is that it has no power to make decisions regarding health service delivery in the region.

“We will look at the legislation once again and do what is necessary and make the necessary adjustments so that the entity will function without any form of legislation, giving them authority, if necessary, to hire and fire,” Minister Norton had said.

Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Resident Representative Dr William Adu-Krow said work is advanced in finalising the Terms of Reference of the Health Economics Team from Jamaica, which will be coming to review the BRHA.
He said the team will be looking at data from Region 6 and some data from Region 5, and will be using Linden as control. An Attorney-at-Law will also join the Jamaican team, the PAHO Resident Representative noted.

Sore point
At a meeting at the PAHO Georgetown Office on Monday, Minister Norton said the BRHA is a sore point, and is something the Administration wants to pronounce upon.

Prior to BRHA, there was a system by which a Regional Health Unit promoted and managed the heath affairs in the region. That unit comprised a Regional Health Officer and the Regional Executive Officer.
“Then we came up with this idea of regional health authority. There must be a reason for that; with experience, it is not one that we are too happy about. We still have people in Berbice complaining that they were not satisfied with the services that they were getting,” Dr Norton said.

It is not clear whether this was the result of a personality problem or whether the system was suffering from a plague, but Minister Norton said he oft-times finds himself in a defensive position when questions regarding the BRHA are posed to him.

“I say ‘PAHO has agreed to help us to evaluate and find out the way forward with regards to this’. As it stands, we in the Region 6 area have gone back to our Regional Health Officer and the hospitals with the Chief Executive Officer and the Medial Superintendent. We don’t know if that will work, we know it has been there before, is a situation which we have at the Georgetown Public Hospital, even though it is run by a Board.

“Linden Hospital has changed up their board. What it is telling us is that nothing is cut and dry, noting is made in stone; it is a dynamic process and it is good that we can have this evaluation [from PAHO],” he said.

He thanked PAHO for coming on board, noting that its work would reflect a proper examination of BRHA, and advise on the way forward.

By Tajeram Mohabir