– Let him teach them how, says hospital CEO

CHIEF Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Michael Khan has responded to claims by Shadow Minister of Health and APNU Member of Parliament that 95 per cent of the staff members at the hospital do not know how to properly wash their hands.

According to the APNU Parliamentarian last Friday at his Party’s weekly press conference, a recent survey at the GPHC revealed that some 95 per cent of the staff didn’t know how to properly wash their hands. This, he lamented, poses a serious problem at Guyana’s premier public health institution.
Responding to this statement, however, CEO of GPHC, Michael Khan in an interview with this publication noted that he was not aware that a survey was conducted to investigate the issue raised by Norton. To this extent, he added that he was never made aware of these statistics and so was not in a position to say whether they were accurate or not. He is calling for the survey to be brought to him directly.

In the meantime, Khan made a startling recommendation that the Shadow Minister who made the discovery, should lead the way in teaching the staff how to properly wash their hands.
“The survey was conducted and Dr. Norton would have had some part to play in that, which means he has to know how to properly wash hands. Therefore, he should lead the way, if his claims are indeed true, and begin helping the staff by teaching them how to wash their hands. I would be grateful if he could help in this cause,” Khan said.

EBOLA RESPONSE TRAINING
The CEO also debunked statements made by Dr. Norton that persons currently undergoing Ebola outbreak response training have expressed dissatisfaction and are opting to discontinue the training because they have to share medical equipment and suits.
Khan explained that at present there are over 100 suits being used to train persons in this area and there are numerous pieces of medical equipment. He noted too that efforts are still being made to acquire more suits and equipment to further enhance medical delivery in this area.
In that light, he categorically denied the claims and contended that Norton was “twisting the truth” to suit himself.

(By Ravin Singh)