‘Reality Check’ is a series started by the Guyana Chronicle to highlight different social issues that stretch across cultures and other divides and impact the lives of the Guyanese people.
–    Health sector’s connundrum, health workers’ attitudes and the public
The Health Ministry, according to Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, has zero tolerance for health workers whose attitudes and behaviour towards patients are not what they are supposed to be and contribute to painting a negative image of the health sector. Truth be told, there are countless Guyanese that can attest to being treated in a less than desirable manner when visiting some of the public health facilities across the length and breadth of Guyana. However, herein lies the connundrum that plagues the health sector; on one hand there is an acknowledged problem with some health workers (granted there are many honest, dedicated and hard working health professionals) and on the other are those treated unfairly who are not willing to step up and assist the disciplinary process.
In an interview with the Health Minister, he noted that there are many cases in which the act or acts of indiscipline among health workers are known, but the affected persons are not willing to “get involved,” as he put it.
“They say they don’t want to get involved, so they may tell me what happened, but there is not much I can do because we cannot do things in a haphazard way. There is a process and that needs evidence,” Ramsammy said.
According to him, the offending party could be kept under closer supervision, but such supervision is not something that can be done at all times.
He maintained, however, that immediate disciplinary action will be taken when such incidents are brought to light.
“Health workers are not only responsible for making diagnosis and prescribing medicines. We are in the business of making people feel better,” Ramsammy said.
The minister noted that “making people feel better” includes treating persons with dignity, kindness, sensitivity and care.
He added that the ministry recognises that there is a problem and will not “pull a screen over our eyes.”
Rather, Ramsammy said the insistence of a zero tolerance policy will hopefully right the wrongs and assist in improving the quality of health care delivered to the Guyanese people.
The health minister pointed to the motto of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), ‘We Care’, and said that all health care delivery institutions, including the GPHC, must emulate this concept.
“You cannot care when you are insensitive to people…I will always say, on behalf of the majority of health workers, that we are trying our best,” Ramsammy said.

He reiterated no untoward behaviours will be condoned.
“We tried cajoling. We tried training and we tried incentives, but such behaviour, albeit in a small number, persists,” he said.
Ramsammy noted that this includes negative attitudes and behaviours from support staff and even security guards.
“Security guards are not doctors or nurses, and do not have the right to turn away a patient who turns up…the doctors and nurses are the ones who will deal with that,” he said.
He acknowledges the negative attitudes and behaviours as a major problem, but insists that persons affected need to make use of the avenues for recourse to curb this scourge.

SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE
There is a saying that goes, “we see things not as they are, but as we are,” and here is where we have the problem – the response of some health workers is filtered through whatever emotion they are feeling at that point in time.
There is no denying that health workers are human, and have contributed to the major success Guyana’s health sector has seen in the last decade, but sometimes the problem comes when they fail to see their patients as human too.

While it was agreed that public servants are faced with challenges of their own, it was also agreed that a degree of professionalism must be present to prevent the transfer of their frustration to the undeserving lot that are the patients.
Case in point, most health facilities are a maze of corridors and rooms for different purposes, and a first time visitor will not be keen on what is where.
This reporter had the experience of seeing how a woman in labour was attended to at the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH), Region Three (Essequibo Islands/ West Demerara).
The young woman, clearly in pain, and her family were directed to the maternity ward by a security guard, and upon arrival, were told by some other patients there that the nurse had just stepped out. Not knowing any better, one of the woman’s relatives made the three-minute walk to where a Medex was seeing patients to seek help. A call was made to the maternity ward by the Medex and the relative was told that there was a nurse indeed in the ward. Upon retuning to the ward, the relative and the rest of the family members were met with verbal abuse – clearly unnecessary, considering that the family was told otherwise by the other patients there and could not possibly know better.
The young woman delivered her baby with the help of the very helpful nurses there, in particular one Ms. Nurse James; but the attitude of that one nurse is the imprint that will be left on the minds of that family – not a good impression.
However, none of the members in that family is willing to step forward and get involved to see that disciplinary measures are meted out.
Why? For the simple reason that they may need to return there at some time or the other and prefer to look past the verbal abuse to avoid any inconvenience in the future.
At least that is the way they, and many others in similar positions, see the situation.

YES, BUT NO
The majority of the persons in the out-patient section of health facilities that the Guyana Chronicle spoke to agreed that a zero policy is needed to effect more meaningful change on the ground level, where it matters.
Apart from the regional hospitals, the diagnostic centres that were established just over three years ago also have  large patient loads.
The last time the Guyana Chronicle was at the Leonora Diagnostic Centre, 87-year-old Dukhni Ramdhani was among those there.
She had been assisted to the centre to see a doctor about her complaints of diabetes and hypertension.
“I depend on my neighbour to bring me because my foot not really good,” she said.
When asked about the service, the old woman stated that there have been improvements from the years past, but also pointed out that the health workers need to remember that “is people they dealing with.”
Other individuals there to see a doctor reiterated similar sentiments.
However, in the same way some health workers were criticized, instances where they showed consideration were lauded.
A teacher who was there was facilitated early, with the agreement of those behind her, to see the doctor because she had to go to school.
On one hand, the consensus among patients was that health workers deliver “care” as best as they can, but there is room for improvement – an area which the Health Ministry’s zero tolerance policy hopes to address.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Health is calling on those patients affected by the insensitivity in some health workers’ mannerisms to “get involved” and assist the enforcement of the zero tolerance policy.