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New infrastructures, more professionals for improved health sector

Dec 06, 2009 News

– Dr Ramsaran

In its quest to improve the delivery of health care service, a number of infrastructural works have been funded by Government. However, some of these works have not been spared the contractual works that leave much to be desired.
Minister within the Health Ministry, Dr Bheri Ramsaran, disclosed that the relatively new Suddie Public Hospital is not in an ideal condition. “We are already having some problems with the quality of work that was delivered by the contractor.”
This newspaper has been informed that since the completion of the hospital, constant repairs have been required on some sections of the facility.
However, such occurrences have not hindered the efforts to improve and expand the health sector. “This is a poor country. We have constraints but the administration has been able to create, over the past few years, significant new regional and hinterland hospitals.”
Among the hospitals that have either been constructed or upgraded to modern facilities are the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, Leonora Diagnostic Centre, Suddie Public Hospital and the Mahaicony Hospital.
And according to Dr Ramsaran, the hospitals constructed at Lethem and Mabaruma are no different from the others in terms of the work environment and the nurses, doctors and patients friendliness.
He related that to construct a hospital like the one at Lethem a minimum of $250M would be required. “That is just building the hospital. Equipping it and putting in a standby generator also carry additional costs.”
In recognition of the fact that at the Suddie and Mahaicony hospitals the situation may not be of the best, efforts are made to take an evidence-based approach to the construction of new hospitals.
But even as infrastructures are expanded and improved, Dr Ramsaran said that simultaneous efforts are being made to train staff in every professional aspect of health care delivery. The Ministry of Health has sought to significantly increase the number of doctors and nurses over recent years.
However, Minister Leslie Ramsammy had revealed that there has been a massive resistance to the move, particularly in the area of the nurses training programme.
Nonetheless, he said that the public health sector is poised to train more than 500 nursing students shortly.
He added that persons responsible for the training have sought to raise many concerns in their attempts to defer the increase in class sizes.
Dr Ramsammy vocalised his belief that young people should be given the opportunity to receive training even as he lamented the fact that “all kinds of barriers are being put up to prevent us from giving more opportunities for training.”
Staggering of classes has however been cited by Minister Ramsaran as one innovative measure to address the problem.
“We have for example large classes now and the tradition is that the classes will start in the morning and end sometimes in the early afternoon as in the public school system. We should start thinking and urging the managers of the nursing training programme to adopt the way it is done in other jurisdictions where programmes are staggered. ”
By staggering programmes, Dr Ramsaran said that nursing schools will be able to use scarce faculty that will not be available during standard school hours but available at off peak hours.
“Right now Guyana is benefiting from a surge of young doctors. They, of course, can release more senior medical practitioners to deliver lectures and courses in nursing schools. This is happening at the Georgetown Public Hospital.”
And since more nurses are expected to be trained this year, the Minister noted that measures must be put in place urgently if the sector is able to produce the amount of nurses that will be required.

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