Lethem Hospital to become regional institution – Public Health Ministry working on sourcing specialists

Georgetown, GINA, August 02, 2016

Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings along with a team of senior health officials, today visited the Lethem Hospital in Region Nine to address a number of issues affecting the health sector in that region.

In a meeting with the staff of the Lethem hospital, the Minister heard their concerns.

Minister Cummings stressed that health care protocols should be observed by all staff working in the hospital. “A team is as strong as the weakest link so we want everybody on board, singing from the  same page so protocols for all health care procedures must be observed, all staff must work together to achieve this,” Dr. Cummings urged.

Director of Regional Health Services, Dr. Kay Shako who also accompanied the minister to Lethem, applauded the hospital for the level of health care provided, but indicated that there is need for the hospital to be recognised as a regional institution. However, she pointed out that in order for the hospital to attain regional status,  the requisite specialist staff must be available.

“We are working assiduously to bring this hospital up to the level of a regional hospital. We feel that this hospital has most of what is needed for it to become a regional hospital, but what we are working on is trying to get the appropriate specialists to come and complete Lethem being a regional hospital,” Dr. Shako added.

The team addressed staff’s  concerns one of which was the updating of the records department with  ICT systems to provide more efficient service. The department currently engages in manual record keeping.

Another issue was that of referrals. One doctor explained that when a patient is referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, the patient is usually asked to return to complete the treatment which would be costly, transportation wise. The doctor added that although there is the Amerindian hostel available in Georgetown, to accommodate individuals, there are still many complaints of the poor living quarters at the facility.

Staff attached to the Maternal and Child Health Department in the region requested the provision of transportation to assist in providing health services to persons in need in the sub – regions.

Minister Cummings charged the Regional Health Officer, along with the Regional Executive Officer to take into consideration the issues which were raised and seek to address them in a timely manner.