Three new foot care centres slated for East Coast Demerara

–  on conclusion of Diabetic Foot Care Training

DPI, Guyana, Friday, July 6, 2018

Three diabetic centres are slated to be established in the communities of Melanie, Plaisance, and Unity, along the East Coast of Demerara. These will be implemented following the conclusion of a three-day training programme for Diabetic Foot Care.

Currently, eleven nurses from various health centres along the East Coast of Demerara are undergoing training at the Region Four Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Triumph office. The exercise is being facilitated by Head of the Diabetic Foot Centre, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr. Kumar Sukraj and Dr. Keng-On Liu.

Participants examining their feet during the workshop.

Dr. Kumar Sukraj [extreme left] and Dr. Keng-On Liu [right] pose with the participants.

Dr. Kumar Sukraj demonstrating some techniques to one of the participants.

At the recent Regional Health Officers (RHOs) conference held in Region Two, Dr. Quincy Jones, RHO for Region Four, noted that the initiative is part of his department 2018 plans to equip healthcare workers with the capacity building skills and knowledge they need to better serve the public.

“We have heard a number of complaints and suggestions regarding the need for more services and recognising that currently there is no health centre on the East Coast that provides diabetic care, we sought to increase the services being offered by including this. However, increased services must come staff with the skills, knowledge and techniques to effectively deliver the new services and therefore the training of the nurses are critically important,” Dr. Jones explained.

He noted that the decision taken will significantly reduce the number of patients visiting GPHC for diabetic care. “We recognise that while we did not have established centres on the East Coast there were and continues to be significant request for the establishment of such centres and what we ventured to do was to ensure that some nurses who have the knowledge and skills in those area to further sharpen them while at the same time establishing three new centres which will effectively and efficiently help with the delivery of healthcare in this region.,”

According to Dr. Jones, it is the vision of the health department to have more diabetic centres established within the next year. Meanwhile, Dr. Sukraj said that “we at GPHC foot centre continue to be bombarded by a very large volume of patients and I am extremely happy with the establishment of these foot centres as it would certainly help in reducing the number of patients; while making diabetic foot care accessible to individuals living in communities outside of the capital city.”

The nurses in the inaugural training are Parbattie Ramlall, Sheneeza Khan, Patricia Duke, Juneann Archibald, Tracy Nero, Yemena Phillips, Veesia Karl, Trishanna Rameharran, Tonnesia Nester, Irene Lowe, Renita Rodriques, Sueann Pestano and Alicia Trotman.

By: Neola Damon.