-towards better healthcare services in Guyana
Georgetown, Guyana – (November 4, 2016): A HEALTHY population and strong health care systems are important for every country’s population, and are a key socio-economic indicator of national development. Providing adequate health services to the population is therefore a paramount goal for the Government.President David Granger has said that the provision of quality health services is ‘part and parcel’ of raising the quality of living for Guyanese in pursuit of his administration’s goal of ‘the good life’.
But a country’s ability to provide quality health services for its people is dependent on many factors. In May this year, at the launch of the “Health at 50 in Guyana” Progress Health Report of the Pan American Health Organisation and the Ministry of Public Health, President Granger said that while public health is the responsibility of the State, it is a matter that cannot be solved by the central government alone, as a healthy society must come as part of a combined effort of several stakeholders.
“Central government must work closely with the ten regional administrations, and the regional administrations, in turn, must work more closely with the municipalities and neighbourhood (democratic councils); and that is why Local Government Elections are so important — to make sure that all of these elements are in place,” the President said.
To this end, the Ministry of Public Health (MPH) holds the primary responsibility for ensuring that quality health services are not only administered, but are accessible to Guyanese countrywide. Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, has said that easy access to quality medical care is a constitutional right of the people. Accordingly, there have been a number of recent improvements and additions in health care facilities and services throughout the country.
In Barima-Waini (Region One), plans are well underway for the construction of a $700 million regional hospital in Port Kaituma. This health facility is scheduled to be completed in December of this year.
The Bartica Hospital in Cuyuni-Mazaruni (Region Seven) has recently been transformed into a regional hospital, resulting in an overall improvement in the range and quality of services offered, and a 50 per cent reduction of referrals to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
During a visit to this facility in May, President Granger said that, with Bartica’s new township status, there must be a full list of services accessible to the people.
“No resident should have to leave his or her region in order to have access to the public services… I have been working together with the Minister of Communities to ensure that every region has a town, and that every capital town possesses all of those resources that residents of that region needs,” the President said.
Meanwhile, plans were announced in August this year in regard to upgrading the Lethem Hospital in Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo (Region Nine) into a regional institution. These and other initiatives aimed at decentralising health services among all the regions in Guyana are high on the Ministry’s list.
“The only way we can comply with achieving that constitutional right is by making [quality health care] accessible to all Guyanese… (With) the idea of having that main referral institution at the GPHC, we must be able to offer a quality of healthcare where the diagnosis can be made there and the management of that diagnosis is available, and the persons must have access to it,” Minister Norton said.
The Minister explained that, in order to ensure that each area of health care is given adequate attention, the Ministry’s work is divided into seven core programmes, which are: General Administration, Disease Control, Family Health, Regional Health Services, Health Science Education, Standards and Technical Service, and Rehabilitation Services. These programmes make up a holistic approach to the administration, monitoring, and improvement of national health care.
Among these programmes, specific issues take priority with regard to the Ministry’s focus. Maternal and Child Health is one such area, due to the need for reduction of maternal and child deaths. Within the Family Health programme, the Maternal and Child Health Unit holds the responsibility of ensuring that all family members obtain maximum health care, which is necessary for their growth and development.
Director of the Maternal and Child Health Unit, Dr. Ertenisa Hamilton, has said that while guidelines are in place with regard to all aspects of maternal and child health, the implementation of these is key. The Unit is focused on the training of all health care professionals at every level on the proper administration of health care services in this area.
Some of the core training programmes, she said, are training doctors and community health care providers in Integrated Management of Childhood Illness, Obstetric Emergency Training and the “Helping Babies Breathe” training programme, implemented collaboratively with the Latter Day Saints Movement.
Other programmes aimed at improving Maternal and Child Health are an immunisation programme and the increase in postnatal visits to new mothers. “Guyana would have also benefited from a loan from the IDB, which will be coming on board shortly looking specifically at maternal and neonatal deaths. One of the biggest challenges has to do with hinterland areas; so, for that particular region, we are looking at a community approach. We need everyone to be their neighbour’s keeper, and to inform us, the health care provider, so we can make decisions and act early,” Dr. Hamilton said.
She also credited partnerships with organisations such as the Pan American Health Organisation and the United Nations Children Fund for many of the programmes that are being undertaken to ensure proper health care is administered to mothers and children countrywide.
Efforts towards ensuring quality healthcare for mothers and babies can also be seen in the recent expansion of the Maternity Ward at the GPHC.
Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr. Sheikh Amir has said that the facility, which is mostly complete and will soon be commissioned, makes provision for a Neonatal Unit and an Emergency area for gynaecological patients, among other key health needs.
The central health institution for the country is the GPHC, which has many functions. First, it serves as the primary hospital for both the city and the Demerara-Mahaica Region. It also serves as the national referral hospital, as well as the national teaching facility for medical students.
Minister Norton has said the GPHC has come a long way with regard to the delivery of medical services, but more work must be done in this regard.
Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Sheikh Amir, has said the institution holds several partnerships with overseas organisations and universities, which aid in the administration of specialised health care services. Added to infrastructural enhancements, these and other administrative factors aid in the overall improvement of the capacity and quality of service that the GPHC can provide to its patients, Dr. Amir has said.
The hospital has repeatedly come under scrutiny for its shortcomings, among which are the waiting time at its Accident and Emergency Unit. Dr. Amir has, however, said that the structure of the Unit provides for categorisations of incidents into cases that are immediate, urgent and non-urgent. This categorisation results in cases being treated according to priority.
But Minister Norton acknowledges that there are other issues that result in further shortcomings for the facility. “The in-patient facility is now offering less beds than what existed before. So while we have a new building that is not sufficient — hence the situation we have now of patients waiting at the Accident and Emergency Unit and can’t find a bed — that situation needs to be corrected,” he said.
The Minister has said that improvements to the GPHC must be looked at with consideration for the long term, and that attention must also be paid to the quality of work that is being done with regard to infrastructural works.
“I think that what we have there is a work half done. There (was) space and (there were) plans to extend, and we have to seriously look at (them)… It is good we recognise there are problems, and we are going to change it,” he said.
The Minister has said that the MPH is committed to ensuring that all areas which may not be up to required standards within the health sector are addressed, to ensure that all Guyanese are able to access adequate health services.
