-Health Minister says SMART conversion works constraining some services

MINISTER of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, has refuted claims that the Leonora Cottage Hospital, on the West Coast of Demerara, has been understaffed for almost a year.

Dr. Anthony’s statement follows claims made by Stabroek News on Monday, December 13, about the institution’s human resources.

The health minister said the hospital was among several health facilities identified for upgrade under the smart hospital initiative, which seeks to link structural and operational safety and disaster resilience protocols, with resources, while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It was being done through a partnership between the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID)

“So, over the past year, services at the Leonora hospital have been constrained because of these repairs that we have been doing now. So, they have not been operating at the scale that they used to, but we have displayed some of those services to health centres and health facilities in the neighbouring areas,” he explained.

Minister Anthony pointed out that the change also caused the volume of the hospital’s workload to be lessened, even with seven doctors on a shift system.

Despite this, departments such as the 24-hour Accident and Emergency (A&E), and outpatient, among others, continue to provide healthcare services to residents.

During November alone, the hospital’s A&E and Outpatient departments catered to some 753 and 698 patients respectively. Each department saw about 22 cases on average per day.

In light of that, the health minister said that “each doctor’s patient load is very low so I am not sure what the complaints are about because from these numbers, the patient load is extremely low. We should get them to do more work over there.”

Dr. Anthony said he was working assiduously with PAHO to conclude the works so that the health facility could resume operation at full capacity. Works are expected to be completed by year end.

Government Member of Parliament, Dr Tandika Smith, said Monday, that even with the shift system, “the doctors provide outpatient, emergency and, of course, on-calls which are done after four, so as it is, we are not short of staff in any way. We will continue to deliver services to the population and, of course, we do it to the best of our ability.”

In 2020, President Dr. Irfaan Ali, along with Dr. Anthony joined PAHO/WHO Guyana Representative, Dr Luis Codina, among others, to unveil a billboard to mark the commencement of the upgrade works at the Leonora hospital.

Apart from Leonora Cottage Hospital, the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, Mabaruma and the Lethem Regional Hospitals will also be retrofitted as part of the Smart Health Care Facilities in the Caribbean Project. (DPI)