Quarterly ministerial, managerial visits for GPHC

−Minister Lawrence conducts first walkthrough for 2020

DPI, Guyana, Monday, January 27, 2020

The Minister of Public Health Hon. Volda Lawrence has visited the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation in what is to be a quarterly exercise to check on its services and those at other health facilities.

The initiative stemmed from a meeting between the ministry and staff of several departments within the GPHC, where concerns were raised with the hope of having the ministry intervene.

Minister Lawrence visited the Infectious Diseases and Vector Control Departments, Medical Outpatient Department, Accident and Emergency Unit and also checked on the expansion work underway at the Maternity Unit.

The department heads also briefed the minister on the challenges they face as it relates to patient load and overall service delivery. It was noted that while some issues may require long term and infrastructural solutions, the smaller ones could be addressed immediately.

Minister Lawrence said: “It was good being there, we were able to attest to some of the things that the staff raised at that meeting and so we will be working assiduously to address some of those concerns as much as we can without a budget.”

She also explained that service delivery at the GPHC, particularly at the A&E, required rigid reform, to ensure that both patients and staff of the hospital were comfortable.

“We are looking at the physical building, the space which they are operating in, we are looking at the SOPs for A&E, and also, we look at the human resource and the flow of patients,” she added.

The health ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Collette Adams, who was part of the visiting team, relayed that it would be her responsibility to ensure the necessary items were provided to improve their service delivery.

“There are some basic things that are needed that we will send today like the chairs that the inspectors want along with a bed at the filaria department those, were purchased in the 2019 budget,” Adams said.

Meanwhile, the hospital’s CEO, retired Brigadier George Lewis noted that the minister’s visit was timely as it allowed her “to see our physical facilities and the number of challenges we face. We also had the opportunity to brief her on some of the plans we have to remedy the situation and I think generally her visit here allows us to share our ideas.”

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