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Health ministry to introduce complaints, crisis hotlines – Dr. Ramsammy

Apr 09, 2010 News

It is envisaged that corrupt practices within the health sector could be halted and crucial life changing information could be made available through a strategic move which will be shortly implemented by the Ministry of Health.
And that move, according to Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, entails a simple plan to put in place two telephone hotlines. It was expected that the plan would have taken off since last month but certain measures are yet to be put in place, the Minister admitted during an interview with this newspaper.
Ramsammy explained that one hotline will be dedicated to crises, allowing persons to call in to raise concerns about issues such as domestic violence, suicide, among other social issues. The other hotline will cater to clientele of the health sector, including anonymous callers, who are desirous of sharing disparaging information about health professionals, health facilities or the service that is offered.
“With this hotline in place, people can just call us and make their complaints and we will assure them that the information they provide will be treated with strict confidence.”
And much work will be required to convince people of the confidential nature of the move, as according to the Minister, people are often of the opinion that they will eventually be exposed for reporting certain issues.
“We are not the police! When it is the police you are dealing with your name will come up eventually. We are not doing this necessarily to punish anybody but we are doing this to stop some existing practices,” the Minister asserted.
And with the anticipated move, Minister Ramsammy said that no effort will be spared by his Ministry to generate confidence in the public.
The delay in the engagement of the initiative, according to the Minister, is due in part to limited space at the health ministry and because certain international standards are not yet met.
“Some of our people have been trained for the crisis hotline but we have to train other people for the complaints hotline to ensure that we follow required international standards.”
And in order to boost the training efforts, two consultants who have been directly involved in the operations of crisis hotlines in Canada are expected to arrive early next month to work with local persons who have already gained some level of training in this regard.
Persons to man the complaints hotline are currently undergoing training, the Minister revealed.
However, despite the fact that measures are in train to bring to fruition the ambitious initiative, Ramsammy disclosed that the programme will be somewhat constrained as the public service does not cater for such staffers. As a result, he noted that he will be forced to utilise existing staffers on a temporary basis until recruitment of other staff is allowed.
“I am hoping that we will only have to use our staff for a few months during which time I will be able to convince the relevant authority that we need to recruit these people to ease us.”
In addition to helping to reduce the incidence of domestic violence and suicide, it is expected that the move will serve to ward off corrupt practices among some health professionals within the public health sector.
However, the Minister noted that while there is a need to address the incidence of corrupt activities within the sector, the vast majority of his staffers are ardent workers who take pride in undertaking their duties and responsibilities in the quest to provide an equitable service.

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