– deputy chief medical officer

DEPUTY Chief Medical Officer Dr Karen Campbell said efforts are being made to address the challenges in the provision of healthcare in the hinterland region as Guyana forges ahead to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Dr Campbell gave the assurance on Wednesday at a Guyana Nurse’s Association forum to celebrate Universal Health Coverage Day.

“For Guyana to improve the quality of health services and to fulfil its commitment to provide services… we must have wider stakeholder involvement through formalised partnerships. The Ministry of Public Health is prepared to support the improved, coordinated strategic planning which must be in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Communities,” Campbell highlighted.
The forum was held at the Regency Hotel and saw the participation of several nurses from various health facilities. The forum saw interactive sessions on the challenges faced in delivering universal coverage across the country, particularly those challenges encountered in remote areas.

The challenges include those pertaining to accountability and maintenance of assets, record-keeping and transportation.

“For the quality of health services in the hinterland to improve, we will have to boost the structural facilities. It is not acceptable that a midwife has to do a delivery at a community hospital in the hinterland using a flashlight because the wiring for the electricity has been incomplete for over two years,” Campbell declared.

“More consideration needs to be given to those medical professionals being transferred into the remote regions, and some of their concerns addressed, including necessary provisions for their family in the area of availability of academic infrastructure for their children. The regions must plan and make provisions for the accommodation of more health professionals and these provisions ought to respect the dignity of their positions.”

Even while focusing on allaying the difficulties faced by medical professionals being transferred into the remote regions, more also needs to go into ensuring those residents native to the areas are given the chance to acquire the necessary skills needed to fill positions and reduce the need to import human resources.

RESPONSIBILITY
“Regions must take more responsibility to ensure interested persons are identified and trained at all levels of the spectrum of health. I was in Region Nine at a career fair organised by our partners, Peace Corps, and was intrigued by the number of fifth formers who wanted careers in health but didn’t seem to have information or access to application forms, etcetera to realise their dreams,” Dr Campbell related.

She was able to put measures in place to facilitate those students accessing the applications. Notwithstanding the challenges, measures are continuously being put in place to slowly but surely tackle the challenges.

“The Ministry of Public Health is lobbying for differentiated allowances, especially for health personnel who are required to be relocated to the hinterland, far away from their family and social support networks,” Dr Campbell shared.

“The recent piloting of electronic medical records, intensified training of community health workers, medex and specialists in surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology and paediatrics for deployment into the hinterland locations are but some of the measures being taken to address our human resource shortages across every region.”

Chief Nursing Officer Linda Johnson-McIntyre also made remarks at the forum. She emphasised the need for more consideration to be given to the challenges faced by nurses, particularly in the area of mental health.

“At WISH 2018 held in Doha, Qatar in November, there was a strong call for promotion of mental health in the workplace. Over the past week, I visited two health facilities and I was able to confirm that there are more conflicts at the service delivery level. And in both cases, persons broke down in tears. There is urgent need for self-care and the need for routine counselling is evident,” Johnson-McIntyre noted.

The forum included a session on “Inter-sectoral Collaborations for addressing mental health issues” presented by MoPH Senior Psychologist, Dr Balogun Osunbiyi.