Primary Health care workers trained for user friendly manual
DPI, Guyana, Monday, December 11, 2017
Primary health care providers, of 28 health facilities across Region Six, were involved in a four-day training programme which would equip them with the requisite knowledge for the development of a user-friendly manual.
The new manual, when completed, will outline the management of health facilities, office procedures and standards, which must be adhered to. It will eliminate all existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), that contradict or come into conflict with the proper delivery of health care.
Seated from Left to Right Alex Foster, Focal Point Coordinator, Region Six, Ministry of Public Health, Jevaughn Stephens Director of Health Services, Region Six, Hon. Volda Lawrence Minister of Public Health, Dr. William Adu-Krow PAHO/WHO Country Representative and John Adams Member of Parliament and Advisor to Minister of Public Health pose with the graduates of User Friendly Manual Development training programme.
Instead of having each health centre or health post in the region, operating under varying SOPs, the user-friendly manual will provide universal guidelines to all facilities. As such, persons would be able to visit any of the region’s health facilities and access the same standard of healthcare.
A simple graduation ceremony was held at the Japanese Hall, St. Francis Developers, Rose Hall, Corentyne, Region Six. Guest speaker, Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence urged the graduates to be cognisant of the magnitude of the manual which is to be compiled.
The Minister described Region Six as leaders for having realised a programme that will serve as a pilot for the improvement of primary health care in all other regions. “You are pacesetters and I want to say this to you. Don’t believe that you just do this and then you return to your health centre and that’s it. You may be called upon to go to Region Five and help a health centre to put theirs (manual) together or go to Region Eight or Three because you are the core group”.
According to the Minister, the administration’s plan to implement this system, is another shrewd move by the Public Health Ministry to bridge the gaps of inequality of healthcare among the ten administrative regions.
Alex Foster, Focal Point Coordinator, Region Six, Ministry of Public Health.
“You have begun that race. The race that will see us having that unique and uniformed service throughout the various facilities and as we start with the clinics, then we will have to take it to the hospitals”, Minister Lawrence explained. She added that crafting of such a manual means that health service throughout the region and by later extension, the country, must reflect quality.
The ministry’s Focal Point Coordinator in Region Six, Alex Foster said that following his appointment, he along with Region Six health representatives realised the necessity for this tool after conducting visits to health posts and centres throughout the region.
“What I discovered, in the health centres, is that we are having duplications and complications as it relates to a service that is supposed to be simple in its delivery. Simple because the government of Guyana through the Ministry of Public Health over the years has developed SOPs and manuals to guide the delivery of this service”, Foster noted.
One of the positives to have come out of the preparation of the manual is that consideration will be given to the geographic landscape. Another major feature of the manual is the detailing of an emergency evacuation plan that caters to the particular needs of each facility.
By: Delicia Haynes