The no-notice inspection will now replace the inspection with notice that is intended for the Licensing and Renewal of License process at all health care facilities.

This was according to a release from the Ministry of Health as it takes steps to ensure compliance with safety regulations.

This means that inspections will now be carried out without prior notice, as was done in the past.

Recently there were reports in the media of unauthorised dumping of medical waste at the Lamaha and Camp Streets intersection in the city.

Since then the Ministry of Health has established an investigative team to address the issue.

The statement from the Ministry pointed out that the team is headed by Chief Medical Officer Dr Shamdeo Persaud.

Additionally, the release reaffirmed that the medical waste did not come from the Georgetown Public Hospital, and highlighted that there was a reasonable level of certainty that it did not come from any private hospital.  

According to the release, the issue of safety in hospitals and health centres are of paramount importance for the overall safety of the population. Hospitals, laboratories, and other health care environments, including stand-alone doctor’s private practice facilities, must comply with the safety regulations.

The Health Facilities Licensing Act has been in effect for over a year and the Ministry of Health assured that work has been done at health care facilities to ensure that the licensing requirements are met.

The release emphasised that the venture has been a collective effort on the part of all health workers to ensure “we improve the safety of the health environment.”

The Ministry of Health, in the statement, recognised and is very appreciative of the support and the willingness displayed by operators of both private and public health care facilities.

However, the release pointed out that the time has come for greater compliance with the rules, stating that there has been enough time to come to grips and familiarise oneself with the rules and regulations and to put mechanisms in place for compliance with the rules.

Thus far, the Ministry of Health has monitored the compliance with rules through an inspection process based on notice of inspection. All facilities inspected were informed before hand of the inspection and are informed as to the nature of the inspection.

The Ministry of Health usually submits at least two weeks ahead of schedule the names of the inspectors and what aspects of the health care services the team will inspect.

There has been no inspection without notice.

However, the Ministry of Health will now add to the inspection services the mandate for inspection without notice.

When introduced, the Health Facilities Licensing Bill met with objections from several professionals in the health sector.

One of the arguments was that that private doctor’s offices should not be included in the regulatory framework.

According to the release, the Ministry of Health itself did not believe that the new Act should immediately apply to private doctors’ offices.

The basis for this conclusion, as highlighted by the statement, was different from that of the professionals themselves, as the Ministry did not believe the reasons provided by the doctors were persuasive enough; but the end result of the two trends of reasoning was the same – that the new Act will not apply to private doctors’ offices.

However, while the doctors opined that the Health Facilities Licensing Act should not apply to them, the Ministry of Health, in the statement, emphasised that their vision was of a day when the Act should apply to all health care environments.

The Ministry’s release made clear that with situations like the unlawful dumping of medical waste, a resolution can only be had if the ability is there to regulate all environments where health services are provided.

For the time being, the release underscored, a quantum leap has been made in being able to regulate the hospitals and laboratories; but there is a need for capacity development which would allow regulation of all facilities in which health care is delivered.