HEALTH SERVICES ARE FAILING THE GUYANESE PEOPLE

Jan 24, 2010 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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The Year Two thousand and nine left the citizenry of our country feeling more and more insecure as the foundations of just and equitable health service delivery systems continued to be undermined by the PPP/C regime. The sector continued to suffer and crumble even as the Government claimed it had made massive investments in Health.

VALUE FOR MONEY

The President, early in December 2009, declared that the health sector budget has grown from $750M in 1992 to $12B today, when the new $1.8B Linden Hospital Complex in Region Ten was officially opened on 2nd December 2009. At this very function, the Minister of Health vainly announced that his Administration has almost entirely rebuilt and reconstructed the physical infrastructure of the health sector with brand new hospitals through a massive investment programme of the Government.

In just three weeks after these bold declarations by the President and the Minister, Guyanese witnessed the tragedy of a deplorable state of health services at this very ‘state of the art’ facility. The operating theatre at this new hospital, like most of the others around the country, we are told, malfunctioned and the lives of a 35-year-old mother of three and her unborn child were snuffed out.

To Guyanese it has become increasingly evident, over the past 17 years, that the way health care is managed in our nation does not encourage the right care, at the right time. People, especially women and children, are dying from unknown causes and suspected negligence.

At this newly commissioned hospital in Linden, because of a number of deaths already, a series of investigations are being launched. The headlines of the national newspapers and other news media, in the most recent weeks, declared: “Woman dies in childbirth-$$B Linden hospital theatre not working”; ” West Demerara maternal Death – Negligence Cited”; “Lethem Residents Blame Negligence for Baby’s Death”; and it goes on.

The death of a Government Minister, after being admitted for injuries in an accident, has caused the Leader of the Opposition, followed by President Jagdeo, to call for an investigation into the circumstances of her death at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

QUALITY AND EFFICIENT HEALTH CARE

We are aware that our nation’s health care providers — doctors, nurses, technicians, technologists, and others — work hard to provide life-saving and life-improving care to us. However, the level of quality and efficiency of care provided across our nation is worrisome.

While spending is high, our nation ranks horribly low in many areas of quality provision of health care. Various reports have concluded that our current health care system is not making progress toward improving the quality of care. This combination of high spending and appalling quality is unsustainable for this young and under populated nation. What we are witnessing is a health system that is a beautifully muscled chicken with its head cut off.

As we know it, hospital facilities, of the nature of the one at Linden , should provide specialist care in four basic areas of health delivery, namely; obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, surgery and internal medicine. This requires specialists in the areas to head and supervise all four of these areas.

In Linden , we are told, these basic and critical specialties are not available. Further, the Accident and Emergency Unit at this spanking new hospital does not have on call staff that should be physically present at the hospital 24 hours per day. Unfortunately, on many occasions the patients’ health circumstances are in serious jeopardy while they await the arrival of a doctor after varying long periods in the Accident and Emergency Unit.

HUMAN RESOURCES IN HEALTH SECTOR

Our health sector, under this Jagdeo regime, faces a variety of human resource problems, primarily an overall lack of personnel in key areas, which is worsened by high numbers of trained personnel leaving the sector. It is true that a number of young medical interns have returned from Cuba but they must first be certified for internship rotation.

Many of them have not been adequately given the required exposure to the volume of patients required or supervised by experienced superiors. As a result, they are unable to perform on par with those who have done their internship in the only approved facility the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

The qualified nursing staff is leaving the health sector in droves while the Minister of Health boasts that the regime is training large numbers annually. What he does not tell the nation is what he is doing to retain the large numbers. If the qualified human resources cannot be retained health care delivery cannot be guaranteed, no matter how many new buildings are commissioned.

Furthermore, the disjointed human resource management in the health sector is resulting in a number of ethical issues arising among the personnel. All doctors should be required to take a course in medical ethics and law for registration. There has not yet been a move in that direction in spite of the serious problems arising in this area with our medical personnel.

AVAILABILITY OF ESSENTIAL SERVICES

It is no secret that the quality and availability of essential services, such as health care, are a key measure of governance. Such services underpin the social contract between the government and citizens and, as such, are an indicator of the health of a society. The Minister has stated, from time to time, that the health sector has numerous programs of health care but has failed to inform the Guyanese public, on a regular basis, of the success and failures of these programmes.

The people of this country want to know what is happening with Vector Control as we are swarmed by mosquitoes in the city and much more in the rural areas. We are not gaining control of diseases such as filaria, dengue fever and malaria. The people of this country are yet to know the truth of the maternal and child health programme. We are seeing a high incidence of maternal and child death at our principal health care facilities, the GHPC, Linden, New Amsterdam, to name a few.

The people want to know what is happening with HIV/AIDS in our country. Usually, when representatives of the Government speak on this subject, the public is told about the millions of dollars being spent but very little is said about the impact or is an assessment given of this spending. Are we getting value for money? Is the incidence of HIV/AIDS less?

The nation feels insecure about the performance of the health sector and needs to be adequately informed.

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